K'  % 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 


THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 
OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 
PRESENTED  BY  j 

RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 


IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD 


Tlie    Story    of  a    Liberal    Life. 


BY 

DOK    JUAK. 


NEW  YORK : 
1884. 


COPYBiGHT,    1884, 

By    J.    E.    WHEELOCK 

ALL  RIGHTS   RESERVED. 


The  Chas.  M.  Green   Printing  ( 
74  and  76  beekman  street, 

NEW   YORK. 


TO  HER 

WHOM  IT  IS  MY  GREATEST  PRIDE  TO  CALL  MY  FRIEND,  AND  WHO  IS  A  REAL 

AMERICAN  LADY — A  LADY  THE  SAME,  WHETHER   ENTERTAINING  HER 

GUESTS  IN    THE  PARLOR    OR    PERFORMING    HER    HOUSEHOLD 

DUTIES     IN     THE     KITCHEN  —  A     TRUE     AND     NOBLE 

WOMAN,   THE    FIFTEEN    LETTERS    OF    WHOSE 

NAME  WILL  EVER  BE  HELD  BY  MK  IN 

SACRED  ESTEEM— THIS  BOOK 

IS  DEDICATED  BY 

THE  AUTHOR. 


603308 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/insearchofgoldstOOwhee 


PREFACE. 


In  the  spring  of  the  year  1880,  business  con- 
nected with  the  Census  caused  me  to  travel  through 
one  of  the  thinly-settled .  districts  of  a  far  West- 
ern State.  While  I  was  on  my  way  to  visit  two 
large  houses  standing  near  together,  but  at  a  long 
distance  from  any  others,  in  order  to  complete  my 
returns  for  that  district,  I  saw,  when  within  about 
one  mile  of  the  nearest  house,  a  pair  of  horses 
attached  to  a  buggy  and  coming  toward  me  at 
such  a  rapid  rate  as  to  convince  me  that  they 
were  running  away,  or,  at  least,  that  the  driver 
had  lost  control  of  them. 

Knowing  that  my  own  dilapidated  Pegasus 
would  never  move  without  the  word  of  command 
(and  hardly  tlien),  I  quicldy  turned  him,  with  the 
light  wagon  to  which  he  was  attached,  exactly 
across  the  road,  so  as  to  occupy  as  much  space  as 
possible;  then  hastily  seizing  a  rail  from  the  top 
of  the  fence  I  placed  one  end  on  the  wagon  and 
held  the  other  in  my  hand,  thus  blocking  up  all 


6  PREFACE. 

the  remaining  space,  and  when  the  running  horses 
came  up  I  was  able  to  stop  them. 

The  only  difficulty  was  that  one  of  the  reins  had 
given  way,  and  the  animals  being  very  high-spirited 
the  driver  was  wholly  unable  to  control  them. 
The  gentleman  introduced  himself  to  me  as  Dr. 
Train,  and  living  in  one  of  the  two  houses  already 
mentioned. 

We  went  back  to  his  house  together,  while  he 
continually  overwhelmed  me  with  expressions  of 
his  obligations  for  the  great  service,  as  he  was 
pleased  to  call  it,  that  I  had  rendered  him,  and 
strongly  urged  me  to  remain  with  him  some  days. 
As  my  business  would  then  allow  of  it,  I  consented. 

I  had  not  been  in  the  house  two  days  before  I 
noticed  that  a  very  strong  friendship  existed  be- 
tween this  family  and  the  one  in  the  other  house. 
I  was  also  struck  with  the  perfect  love  that  reigned 
supreme  in  each  household. 

The  Doctor  had  told  me  sufficient  of  his  neigh- 
bor to  strongly  excite  my  curiosity  to  know  the 
whole  history  of  his  life,  and  when  the  Doctor 
added  that  his  friend  had  kept  a  complete  record 
of  his  eventful  career,  I  felt  an  intense  desire  to 
obtain  it  for  publication.  But  when  I  broached  the 
subject  to  the  Doctor  he  looked  very  grave,  and 
did  not  think  his  friend  would  consent.  But  after 
much  urging,  and  a  solemn  promise  to  use  only 


PREFACE.  7 

fictitious  names,  all  the  MSS.  were  placed  at  my 
disposal,  together  with  such  additional  information 
as  the  Doctor  could  add. 

I  immediately  came  east  to  visit  the  scenes  of 
this  man's  childhood,  and  went  everywhere  that  I 
could  obtain  information  of  him  or  his  career,  and 
I  now  lay  it  before  my  readers  with  the  hope  that 
the  reading  it  will  prove  as  interesting  to  them  as 
the  "  looking  it  up  "  has  to  me. 

Don  Juan. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAGE 

BoHN  AND  Bkouoht  Up 11 

CIIAPTEIl  n. 
Btauts  upon  His  Caueek 34 


CHAPTER  III. 
CHAPTER  IV. 


Tried  as  a  Spy ^'^ 


Taken  Sick.. 


He  Re-enlists. 


CHAPTER  V. 


59 


73 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Life  in  Conscript  Camp ^^ 


CHAPTER  VII. 
I.iFE  IN  Conscript  Camp— continued. 


Commits  Suicide. 


The  Duel. 


CHAPTER  VITI. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Home-made  "Hash". 


97 


108 


130 


138 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Fakes  a  Walk ^'** 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XII.  PAGE 

Valuable  PurriEs 108 

CHAPTEPv  XIII. 
The  Indian  Massacre 172 

CHAPTEPv  XIV. 
Appears  as  a  Spirit 180 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Shipwrecked 193 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
"  Life  on  the  Ocean  Wave  " 210 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Adventures  in  South  America 232 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Married  Life 256 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Death,  Burial,  and  Resurrection 278 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Loses  His  Heart 286 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Will  He  Dare? 312 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
TuE  Second  Wipe 342 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  First  Wife 3.53 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  Two  Wives 365 


IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

BORN   AND   BEOUGHT   UP. 

Joseph  Lockwell,  the  eccentric  individual 
whose  singular  career  will  be  narrated  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  was  ushered  into  the  world  upon  his 
father's  farm  in  a  secluded  locality  in  one  of  the 
finest  agricultural  districts  in  the  Empire  State.  As 
he  was  their  ninth  child,  and  the  seventh  one  then 
living,  and  his  parents  being  well  advanced  in  years, 
it  was  but  natural  to  suppose  that  this,  their  last 
son,  would  always  be  their  youngest  child.  Im- 
pressed with  this  fact,  and  being  deeply  imbued 
with  a  sense  of  their  responsibility,  they  became 
alarmed  lest  they  should  become  derelict  in  their 
duty  toward  him  from  the  natural  proneness  of  par- 
ents to  become  over-indulgent  toward  the  youngest 
member  of  the  family. 

His  brothers  and  sisters  also,  of  whom  he  had 
three  each,  were  not  slow  to  recognize  the  great  and 
common  danger  they  were  all  in  of  making  a  pet  of 


12  '       IN  8EABGE  OF  GOLD. 

this  presumably  the  last  addition  to  their  nnmbers. 
Whether  during  the  first  four  or  five  years  of  his 
existence  his  parents  or  brothers  and  sisters  were 
ever  guilty  of  injuring  his  naturally  amiable  dispo- 
sition by  over-indulgence,  his  memory  in  after 
years  did  not  enable  him  to  determine.  But  judg- 
ing from  the  vivid  recollections  he  enjoyed  of  the 
succeeding  ten  years  of  his  career,  he  was  fully  dis- 
posed to  exonerate  them  from  all  suspicion  of  fail- 
ure in  the  rigid  requirements  of  duty  during  the 
former  period  of  his  life. 

At  five  years  of  age  there  was  not  an  errand  to 
be  run  that  his  little  feet  were  not  called  upon  to 
patter ;  there  was  not  an  armful  of  wood  to  be  car- 
ried up  stairs,  or  brought  into  the  kitchen,  that  his 
little  arms  were  not  in  requisition.  K  his  diminu- 
tive legs  ached  with  constant  running,  and  his  body 
and  mind  both  were  almost  tired  of  life,  and  he 
threw  himself  upon  a  seat  and  wished  for  a  mo- 
ment's rest,  there  was  sure  to  be  some  one  of  the 
family  to  observe  him  and  remark:  "It  is  a  pity 
that  boy  has  not  something  to  do;  to  create  idle 
habits  in  him  now  is  to  ruin  him  for  life ;  beside, 
'Satan  finds  some  mischief  still  for  idle  hands  to 
do,' "  and  generally  in  about  thirty  seconds  thereaf- 
ter sufficient  employment  was  found  for  him  to 
keep  the  evil  machinations  of  Satan  from  having 
undue  influence  upon  his  tender  mind.     The  judi- 


BORN  AND  BROUGHT  UP.  13 

cious  parents  of  our  hero  were  fully  aware  that  not 
only  must  his  physical  habits  receive  the  best  for- 
mation possible,  but  his  mind  must  be  developed, 
and  his  religious  and  mental  faculties  thoroughly 
exercised  and  brought  forward  under  proper  influ- 
ences that  would  enable  him  forever  after  to  flee 
from  the  Devil  and  all  his  works. 

His  elder  brothers  had  all  been  in  the  habit  of 
leaving  home  as  soon  as  they  got  well  able  to  travel 
and  make  their  own  way  in  the  world,  so  it  was  de- 
termined that  this  one,  the  subject  of  our  memoirs, 
should  be  brought  up  with  great  care,  and  with  a 
view  to  have  him  succeed  to  the  care  of  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  farm  in  after  years. 

Alas,  how  often  the  parents  propose  one  way  for 
their  boys  to  follow,  and  the  latter  succeed  in  adopt- 
ing quite  a  different  course,  and  disposing  of  them- 
selves in  a  manner  not  at  all  contemplated  by  those 
slower  representatives  of  a  passing  generation. 

Very  fortunately  for  us  the  future  is  always  con- 
cealed from  the  gaze  of  even  the  most  anxious,  by 
an  impenetrable  veil,  which  not  even  the  mystic 
rites  of  heathenism,  nor  the  prayers  of  Christians — 
about  equally  efficacious — can  for  a  moment  draw 
to  one  side.  Ignorance  of  the  future  saved  many 
a  bitter  pang  from  the  hearts  of  those  stern  but 
conscientious  parents  of  Joseph  Lockwell,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  present  sketch.     Could  they  have  fore- 


14  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

seen  the  suffering  Ms  body  was  to  undergo,  or  tlie 
alienation  of  his  mind  from  those  religious  precepts 
which  it  was  their  joyful  duty  to  inculcate ;  could 
they  have  known  that  it  would,  in  years  to  come, 
be  his  proudest  boast  that  he  loved  his  fellow-man 
better  than  he  did  his  God,  no  more  peace  of  mind 
nor  comfort  would  they  have  known,  but  their 
gray  hairs  in  sorrow  would  have  sought  the  grave. 

Now  with  them  a  careful  education  meant,  pri- 
marily, the  inculcation  of  great  habits  of  industry, 
and  to  form  these  habits  was  it  not  necessary  to 
keep  him  at  work  nearly  all  the  time,  either  physi- 
cally or  mentally?  ISTothing  could  be  plainer,  or 
their  course  of  duty  more  clear. 

There  we  find  him  at  the  age  of  ten ;  a  boy  of 
naturally  the  most  sweet  and  amiable  disposition, 
performing  his  duties  without  a  murmur,  blaming 
no  one,  and  finding  no  fault  with  his  rather  unenvi- 
able lot.  Of  the  highest  spirits  and  good  humor, 
which  not  even  his  puritanical  education  could  con- 
trol, he  sorely  felt  the  need  at  times  of  some  youth- 
ful and  congenial  companion,  for  his  parents  would 
not  allow  him  to  associate  intimately  with  any  of 
the  youths  of  the  vicinity,  fearing  it  might  be  the 
means  of  counteracting  the  beneficial  effects  of 
their  instructions. 

A  partial  description  of  one  summer's  day  will 
give  a  sufficiently  clear  idea  of  this  portion  of  his 


BOBN  AND  BROUGHT  UP.  15 

life,  which  continued  until  he  was  about  fourteen 
years  of  age.  At  four  a.m.  the  solemn  voice  of 
his  father  would  be  heard  calling,  "Joseph,  get 
up,"  and  the  command  seldom  had  to  be  repeated, 
for  obedience  to  his  parents  was  one  of  his  cardinal 
virtues.  To  arise  and  light  the  fire  in  the  kitchen 
was  the  expeditious  work  of  a  few  moments,  then, 
with  a  milk-pail  on  each  arm,  he  went  forth,  first  to 
milk  the  cows,  then  drive  them  out  to  pasture,  after 
which  he  was  at  liberty  to  cut  firewood  or  such 
other  necessary  employment  as  would  amuse  him 
until  breakfast  was  ready.  A  Kght  breakfast  of  the 
plainest  food  was  mildly  but  firmly  enforced. 
Gluttony  and  intemperance  of  every  kind  were  sins 
which  he  was  particularly  taught  to  shun.  After 
breakfast  a  few  hours'  work  of  hoeing  corn  or  pota- 
toes, or  weeding  in  the  garden,  was  succeeded  in  the 
way  of  recreation  by  an  hour  or  two  of  hard  study, 
when  it  was  time  to  pick  the  peas  or  dig  the  pota- 
toes for  dinner. 

The  afternoon  was  varied  in  the  same  way,  by 
plenty  of  hard  work  for  mental  relaxation,  and 
plenty  of  hard  study  to  give  a  chance  for  the  re- 
cuperation of  the  physical  system. 

In  winter  there  were  plenty  of  chores  to  do: 
wood  to  split;  fires  to  light;  apples  and  potatoes 
to  take  care  of,  as  a  substitute  for  the  farm  duties 
of  the  summer. 


16  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"We  will  devote  but  a  short  space  to  a  personal 
description  of  this  youth,  then  pass  on  to  the  record 
of  his  career.  Kather  above  the  medium  height, 
brown  hair,  brown  eyes,  and  sunbrown  face ;  a  frank 
and  open  coimtenance  revealing  a  disposition  that 
was  generous  to  a  fault,  and  a  heart  that  warmed 
to  all  mankind.  A  great  lover  of  comfort  and 
pleasure  himseK — when  he  could  find  them — he 
could  not  bear  to  look  upon  misery  or  suffering 
with  any  one,  not  even  in  animals  or  beasts  of  the 
field.  He  could  never  enjoy  hunting  as  a  pastime, 
because,  as  he  often  said,  the  idea  that  he  might 
have  wounded  some  bird  or  animal  and  left  it  to 
die  in  suffering  and  agony,  would  have  kept  him 
awake  all  night.  High-spirited,  and  with  a  keen 
sense  of  honor,  he  was  quick  to  take  offence,  but 
never  harbored  malice  toward  any  one.  Accus- 
tomed even  in  these  youthful  years,  to  turn  his 
mind  toward  deep  and  abstruse  questions  in  phi- 
losophy and  metaphysics,  he  was  always  ready  to 
meet  in  argument  any  of  the  professors  or  doctors 
of  divinity  who  were  wilHng  to  discuss  their  views. 
An  ardent  searcher  after  truth  for  its  sake  alone, 
he  would  receive  no  creeds  or  theories  without  a 
thorough  investigation,  and  then  would  not  allow 
social  or  other  influences  to  effect  or  warp  his  judg- 
ment in  the  least  degree  either  in  religion  or  poli- 
tics.   With  an  extremely  sympathetic  nature,  the 


BORN  AND  BROUGHT  UP.  17 

troubles  and  sorrows  of  his  friends  he  made  his 
own ;  invokmtary  tears  often  coming  into  his  eyes 
at  the  sight  of  human  suffering  which  he  was  pow- 
erless to  alleviate,  and  he  was  never  happier  than 
while  contributing  to  the  pleasure  of  his  friends. 
Keenly  sensitive  to  both  physical  and  aesthetic 
pleasures,  it  was  always  a  mystery  to  him  why 
everybody  did  not  love  everybody  else  and  try 
to  make  each  other  happy. 

Though  his  rehgious  training  had  been  of  the 
severest  and  most  puritanical  order,  yet  it  had  failed 
to  crush  that  spirit  of  inquiry  which  was  character- 
istic of  him  from  boyhood  to  old  age.  Those  who 
attempted  to  teach  him  Sunday  lessons  from  the 
Bible  found  it  impossible  to  repress  his  investigat- 
ing mind,  or  stop  the  flow  of  pertinent  though  in- 
convenient questions  which  he  brought  to  bear 
upon  every  subject.  One  incident  must  suffice  to 
illustrate  his  metaphysical  turn  of  mind  even  at 
this  early  age,  and  show  how  deeply  he  had 
thought  upon  religious  opinion.  In  fact,  he  often 
remarked  in  after  years  that  during  his  hours  of 
arduous  toil  he  scarcely  ceased  to  ponder  and  try 
to  satisfy  his  mind  in  regard  to  the  numberless 
conflicting  religions  of  the  day. 

One  summer  Sunday  afternoon,  after  he  had 
walked  two  miles  to  church,  then  back  to  a  cold 
and  frugal  dinner,  and  while  the  family  were  aU 


18  ZZV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

engaged  in  reading  alternately  a  few  verses  from 
the  Bible  and  commenting  thereon,  with  questions 
and  explanations  from  the  older  members,  he  came 
among  them  just  as  an  older  sister  was  proj)Ound- 
ing  the  question,  "  How  long  is  it  since  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world?"  and  rather  startled  them  by 
observing,  "  Authorities  are  divided,  but  all  agree 
that  it  cannot  be  less  than  one  million  years." 

"But,  my  dear  brother,"  was  the  reply,  "the 
Bible  teaches  us  that  it  is  only  about  six  thousand 
years  old,  and  the  Bible  cannot  err." 

"  But,  my  dear  sister,  geology  teaches  us  that  it 
is  much  older,  and  science  cannot  lie.  If  the  Bible 
is  infalhble  and  cannot  err,  then  certainly  the  inter- 
pretation or  explanations  of  the  Bible  which  we  get 
do  err,  for  no  two  of  them  agree,  and  if  they  differ 
in  small  and  minor  matters,  some  of  them,  in  fact 
all  but  one,  must  be  wrong  on  those  small  matters, 
and  if  they  are  wrong  on  small  matters,  why  may 
they  not  also  be  wrong  on  great  and  vital  points  ? 
Then  it  is  precisely  the  same  to  us  as  if  the  Bible 
itself  were  fallible,  for  we  have  it  not  as  originally 
written,  nor  could  we  read  it  if  we  had.  So  we  see 
it  would  be  useless  and  consequently  foolish  to  have 
it  originally  inspired  without  also  having  an  in- 
spired and  infallible  translation,  and  then  if  we 
could  not  all  understand  it  alike,  also  an  inspired 
commentary  or  notes.     Now  you  all  have  constant 


BORN  AND  BROUOHT  UP.  19 

recourse  to  Barnes'  Notes  or  Clark's  Commentaries, 
neither  of  which  do  you  claim  are  inspired,  but 
without  which  you  practically  admit  you  cannot 
make  head  or  tail  of  the  Bil)le." 

"  Oh,  my  brother,  don't  you  see  this  is  the  work- 
ing of  Satan  trying  to  get  possession  of  your  soul  ? 
God  has  placed  you  here  and  given  you  the  Bible, 
and  your  parents  to  teach  you  what  it  means,  and 
it  is  your  duty  to  listen  to  them  and  obey  them, 
and  receive  and  believe  what  they  say,  for  he  has 
placed  them  over  you  for  that  purpose." 

"Well,"  said  Master  Joseph,  "if  he  has  placed 
them  over  me  for  the  purjDose  of  teaching  me  what 
to  believe,  he  must  have  placed  all  Catholic  parents 
over  their  children  for  the  purpose  of  teaching 
them  what  to  believe,  yet  they  teach  their  children 
very  different  and  opposing  doctrines  to  those  which 
I  receive;  they  are  even  taught  that  this  book 
which  you  reverence  and  command  me  to  read 
should  not  be  read  by  them  at  all;  also  that  it 
teaches  very  different  doctrines  from  those  which 
you  believe.  ITay,  he  has  placed  a  large  majority 
of  parents  over  their  children  to  teach  them  pagan- 
ism. Now,  as  all  these  doctrines  cannot  be  true, 
does  God  intend  that  some  should  be  taught  a  lie  ? 
If  not,  which  parents  are  teaching  contrary  to  his 
wishes  ?  "We  have  to  come  right  back  to  our  own 
reason  to  decide  the  question." 


20  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

He  was  sent  out  to  see  if  the  cows  Lad  not 
broken  into  the  cornfield,  and  the  instruction  in 
the  family  Sunday-school  proceeded. 

At  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  sent  away  to  a 
select  school,  and  the  first  night  away  from  home, 
on  his  way  to  that  school,  was  the  first  night  in  his 
life  he  had  ever  slept  off  of  his  father's  farm. 
Two  years  of  thorough  instruction  passed  quickly 
away  without  any  incident  of  note  to  vary  the 
monotony  of  school  life  (save,  perhaps,  one  or  two 
passages  at  arms  with  his  Sunday-school  teachers, 
who  finally  requested  him  to  cease  his  attendance, 
as  his  questions,  although  always  asked  in  a  re- 
spectful manner,  had  a  tendency  to  unsettle  the 
faith  of  the  other  scholars),  and  we  find  him  once 
more  back  upon  the  farm  continuing  his  old  habits 
of  work  and  study  alternately. 

But  the  rigorous  moral,  mental,  and  physical 
course  of  education  to  which  he  had  been  subjected 
all  his  life  did  not  have  the  desired  effect  of  attach- 
ing him  so  strongly  to  the  place  of  his  nativity 
that. he  could  not  sometimes  contemplate  the  idea 
of  leaving  it  and  seeking  his  fortune  in  other  locali- 
ties and  amid  other  scenes. 

From  the  day  of  his  birth  till,  at  fourteen,  he 
went  away  to  school,  he  never  had  one  cent  given 
him  by  his  parents,  though  he  occasionally  had  per- 
mission to  do  light  work  for  the  neighbors — such 


BORN  AND  BROUOUT  UP.  21 

as  dropping  com — for  which  he  received  twentj- 
five  cents  a  day,  and  this  he  was  allowed  to  keep. 
But  with  only  this  sum  at  his  disposal  he  evidently 
had  little  opportunity  to  become  very  dissipated  in 
his  habits. 

At  eighteen  years  of  age  he  is  deeply  meditating 
upon  the  problem  of  how  to  improve  his  condition, 
and  contemplating  the  chances  in  the  far  "West, 
especially  !h  the  gold  fields  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
He  is  fully  determined  to  go  somewhere,  but  the 
first  question  of  vital  importance  is  how?  and  the 
second,  where?  He  knows  this  determination 
would  not  be  approved  by  his  parents,  so  it  would 
be  useless  to  ask  for  any  assistance  from  home. 
N^o,  he  saw  then,  as  he  did  so  many  times  in  after- 
life, that  to  get  what  he  wanted  he  must  depend 
upon  himself  alone. 

What  would  have  been  his  course,  or  how  he 
would  have  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Pacific  coast 
had  not  the  Great  Kebellion  broken  out,  it  is  use- 
less now  to  speculate  upon.  The  rebellion  did  break 
out,  and  found  him  ready  to  risk  all  his  hopes  of 
future  prosperity  and  happiness  for  the  sake  of  the 
principle  which  he  held  sacred  of  national  unity. 

Having  fully  made  up  his  mind  to  enlist  in  the 
army,  he  asked  permission  of  his  father,  for,  being 
under  age,  that  permission  was  absolutely  neces- 
sary; no  minors   would    be   received   without  it. 


22  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

His  father  peremptorily  refused.  Here  was  the 
first  difficulty,  and  it  seemed  as  though  it  were  go- 
ing to  be  almost  an  insurmountable  one.  However, 
although  he  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  he  had 
an  old  look,  and  would  pass  anywhere  as  being  at 
least  twenty-one.  So,  after  fully  deliberating  the 
matter  over,  he  determined  upon  the  following 
course  of  action :  He  went  to  his  father  and  said, 
"  Father,  I  am  determined  to  enlist ;  I  feel  it  to 
be  my  duty ;  but  I  should  much  prefer  to  enlist 
here  where  I  am  known,  and  start  out  with  the 
regiment  that  is  now  being  raised  in  this  vicinity, 
and  if  you  will  give  your  permission  I  will  do  so ; 
but  if  not,  I  ^vill  go  down  to  New  York  to  some 
recruitmg  office  and  there  pass  myself  off  as  being 
of  age,  and  if  necessary  swear  that  I  am  over 
twenty-one.  You  know  very  well  that  I  will  be 
readily  believed,  as  my  personal  appearance  con- 
firms that  story." 

"  You  cannot,"  said  his  father ;  "  you  know  very 
well  that  you  have  no  money  to  go  with,  and  be- 
sides, you  know  wherever  you  go  I  could  follow 
and  prove  you  to  be  a  minor,  and  bring  you  home." 

"  In  regard  to  the  fact  that  I  have  no  money  to 
take  me  to  ISTew  York,  do  you  for  a  moment  im- 
agine there  is  not  one  of  all  these  enthusiastic  pa- 
triots so  liberally  contributing  money  to  the  cause, 
who  will  loan  me  enough  to  go  to  New  York  for 


BORN  AND  BROUGHT  UP.  23 

the  purpose  of  joining  the  army  ?  But  if  so,  you 
may  dismiss  the  doubt,  for  I  have  abeady  spoken 
to  one  of  them,  and,  without  going  into  particulars, 
have  told  him  it  might  be  necessary  for  me  to  go 
to  l!^ew  York  to  enlist,  and  then  asked  him 
whether  he  would  be  willing  to  advance  me  the 
necessary  funds  to  pay  my  expenses.  He  speedily 
and  cheerfully  assented.  So  that  is  settled.  And 
now  I  have  great  curiosity  to  know  how  you  ex- 
pect to  find  me  when  you  propose  to  take  me  away 
from  the  troops.  Nearly  all  the  different  States 
have  agencies  in  N'ew  York,  and  I  shall  enlist  in 
one  of  them,  under  a  fictitious  name,  for  some  far- 
off  town  where  there  is  not  the  slightest  possibility 
of  your  finding  me.  ISTow,  all  this  I  can  and  will 
do  if  you  refuse  your  consent  to  my  enlisting  here, 
which  I  should  much  prefer." 


24  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  11. 

STARTS    UPON    HIS    CAKEEE., 

Seeing  the  young  man  was  fully  determined  to 
carry  out  liis  plan  of  action,  his  father  yielded,  and 
signed  the  necessary  papers  consenting  to  his  en- 
listing in  the  army.  He  joined  a  ]^ew  York  vol- 
unteer regiment  as  a  private,  but  while  waiting  to 
be  forwarded  to  the  field  of  action  in  Virginia  he 
was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy. 

On  his  way  down  to  the  front  with  his  regiment, 
he  heard  that  his  brother,  who  had  previously  en- 
listed from  another  State,  was  badly  wounded, 
and  was  then  lying  in  a  hospital,  though  what 
hospital,  or  how  badly  wounded,  he  could  not 
ascertain. 

Arriving  at  Baltimore  he  asked  and  obtained  per- 
mission to  look  through  all  the  hospitals  and  places 
where  the  wounded  had  been  brought,  but  without 
success.  He  could  see  nor  hear  nothing  of  his 
brother;  and  as  he  had  obtained  only  the  most 
meagre  information  about  the  affair,  he  was  in  a 
state  of  the  greatest  anxiety  to  know  how  badly  his 
brother  might  have  been  wounded.     Arriving  in 


STARTS   UrON  HIS  CAREER.  25 

"Washington  lie  there  instituted  a  thorough  search 
again  for  the  wounded  man,  but  with  a  similar  ill- 
success. 

He  was  now  in  a  terribly  anxious  state  of  mind, 
for  he  loved  his  brother  dearly,  and  to  think  that 
he  might  at  that  very  moment  be  dying  among 
strangers,  in  awful  suffering,  was  agony  to  his  sen- 
sitive nature ;  but  do  what  he  would,  he  could  not 
hear  or  see  anything  of  that  wounded  brother.  At 
last,  arriving  at  Frederick  City,  Maryland,  with  his 
regiment,  he  renewed  his  search ;  and  after  going 
through  five  of  the  military  hospitals  in  that  town, 
he  was  almost  hopelessly  pursuing  his  way  through 
the  different  wards  of  the  sixth,  when  suddenly  he 
was  face  to  face  with  his  brother,  who  lay  on  a 
couch  before  him.  The  recognition  was  mutual 
and  instantaneous.  The  meeting  was  one  of  intense 
relief  to  his  anxiety,  for  he  could  see  at  once  that  the 
sufferer,  though  very  badly  wounded,  was  in  no  im- 
mediate danger  ;  and  his  mind  had  dwelt  so  long  in 
such  a  fearfully  painful  state  of  uncertainty,  that  he 
almost  expected  to  find  his  brother,  if  he  found  him 
at  all,  either  dead  or  djang.  The  joy  of  the  meet- 
ing was  felt  very  deep  in  the  hearts  of  both. 
Though  the  length  of  time  that  he  could  remain 
with  the  invalid  was  necessarily  very  short,  he  im- 
proved every  moment  in  such  a  way  that  the  fever- 
ish patient  was  left  well  provided   with  all  the 


26  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

necessaries  and  delicacies  that  could  be  procured  to 
tempt  liis  appetite. 

Tliat  older  brother  had  been  terribly  wounded  in 
the  shoidder:  a  musket-ball  had  penetrated  and 
shattered  the  shoulder-blade.  As  soon  as  he  suflS- 
ciently  recovered  he  was  discharged  from  the  hos- 
pital and  the  army  at  the  same  time.  Within  thirty 
days  from  the  time  that  the  last  fragment  of  bone 
was  taken  from  his  shoulder  he  was  back  once  more 
in  the  army ;  this  time  not  as  a  private  again, 
though  he  would  have  preferred  to  have  re-cnlistcd 
in  the  ranks,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  say  that  a 
private  soldier  was  much  more  useful  and  of  far 
greater  service  to  liis  country  than  an  officer. 
Besides,  there  never  was  any  trouble  in  getting  all 
the  officers  necessary,  but  the  difficulty  was  to  get  all 
the  privates  needed.  In  the  "  Pennsylvania  Buck- 
tails,"  in  which  he  was  serving  prior  to  his  wound, 
he  had  repeatedly  refused  a  commission.  But  after 
the  battle  in  which  he  was  stricken  down  he  was  no 
longer  able,  on  account  of  his  wound,  to  pass  the 
physical  examination  required  of  every  private.  So 
after  he  was  sufficiently  recovered  he  accepted  a 
commission  in  a  Xew  York  regiment,  which  our 
friend  whose  history  we  are  relating  was  enabled 
to  procure  for  him,  as  we  shall  presently  describe. 


TBIED  AS  A  SPY  27 


CHAPTEK  III. 


TRIED   AS     A    SPY. 


At  first  the  regiment  containing  Lockwell  was 
stationed  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  occasional  raids  up  the  Shenandoah  Yalley,  there 
was  very  little  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  ordinary 
camp  life.  But  one  incident  occurred  which  was 
one  of  those  most  deeply  impressed  upon  the  mind 
of  the  many  afterward  encountered  in  his  check- 
ered life. 

One  day  he  was  sent  out  npon  "  fatigue  duty"  in 
charge  of  a  party  who  were  throwing  up  breast- 
works a  short  distance  beyond  the  outskirts  of  the 
camp,  and  while  there  he  frequently  turned  his 
gaze  upon  a  farm-house  in  plain  view,  but  still  at 
some  distance  beyond  our  outside  picket-lines ;  and 
he  looked  long  and  earnestly  npon  this  place,  which 
appeared  to  have  been  well  kept,  and,  to  some  ex- 
tent, at  least,  to  have  escaped  the  almost  imiversal 
appearance  of  confiscation  and  destruction  which  is 
so  noticeable  in  the  vicinity  of  a  camp  of  either 
party.  Continued  gazing  upon  the  forbidden 
ground  caused  his  mouth  to  water  for  something 


28  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

nice  to  eat,  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  lie  began  awfully 
to  "hanker  after  a  square  meal."  His  besetting 
weakness  was  for  good  living,  and  all  the  other 
harmless  pleasures  of  life.  At  first  he  thought  he 
would  like  to  know  if  they  had  any  eggs  o^'cr  at 
this  house,  and  just  then  he  thought  he  oauglit  a 
glimpse  of  some  poultry  in  the  yard,  and  this 
rather  confirmed  his  idea  that  they  had;  then  ho 
began  to  wonder  if  they  would  sell  those  eggs, 
or  cook  him  a  few  if  he  were  over  there;  then 
what  was  the  chance  of  his  getting  there  and  back 
without  its  being  known  in  camp.  He  concluded 
he  had  plenty  of  time  to  go  over  and  get  a  mouth- 
ful of  something  good  to  eat  and  be  back  before 
his  squad  of  laborers  should  be  recalled  to  camp. 
Calling  his  sergeant,  he  told  him  to  take  charge  of 
the  men,  as  he  had  seen  some  suspicious  signs  in 
the  neighborhood  which  led  him  to  tliink  that 
some  of  the  enemy  might  be  lui-king  in  the 
vicinity,  and  he  wished  to  go  out  and  reconnoitre 
a  little !  Speedily  making  his  way  across  the  fields, 
he  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  house,  which  was 
opened  to  him  by  an  elderly  gentleman,  plainly 
dressed,  but  of  very  courteous  manners,  who  asked 
him  to  enter,  and  desired  to  know  in  what  manner 
he  could  be  of  service  to  him.  Our  lieutenant 
replied  that  he  had  been  attracted  l)y  the  pleasant 
appearance  of  the  place,  and  being  very  tired,  not 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  29 

to  say  disgusted  witli  the  plain  and  monotonous 
army  rations  that  constituted  his  camp  fai*e,  he 
desired  to  know  if  they  would  provide  him  with 
something  to  eat  a  little  different  from  this,  and  if 
so  he  would  gladly  pay  them  well  for  what  he 
received,  as  well  as  for  all  trouble  he  might  occa- 
sion them. 

His  host  replied  that  such  as  was  in  the  house 
was  at  his  disposal,  but  he  regretted  that  it  was 
not  such  afi  he  could  have  set  before  his  guest 
previous  to  the  war.  The  proximity  of  both 
armies  had  nearly  ruined  him,  and  almost  wholly 
prevented  his  getting  those  supplies  for  his  family 
which  heretofore  they  had  been  accustomed  to, 
and,  notwithstanding  he  had  suffered  much  less 
than  some  of  his  neighbors,  who  were  utterly  desti- 
tute, still  he  could  only  offer  extremely  poor 
entertainment  to  his  visitor ;  yet  if  the  lieutenant 
would  amuse  himself  with  such  books  as  he  might 
find  upon  the  table,  for  a  little  while,  he  would  see 
wliat  could  be  done  in  the  way  of  refreshments, 
and  so,  bowing  himself  out,  he  withdrew  to  the 
kitchen. 

Left  to  himself,  the  lieutenant  began  to  realize 
that  he  had  taken  some  risks  in  thus  invading  the 
enemy's  country,  as  it  were,  for  he  was  several 
miles  beyond  the  nearest  Union  soldier,  and 
although  no  enemy  was  supposed  to  be  in  that 


30  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

immediate  vicinity,  yet,  for  all  he  knew  to  the  con- 
trary, they  might  be.  And,  althongh  he  did  not 
expect  any  harm  to  result  from  it,  yet  he  knew  it 
was  wrong  to  have  left  the  fatigue  party  of  which 
he  was  in  charge.  These  thoughts,  combined  with 
the  somewhat  protracted  absence  of  his  host,  did 
not  tend  to  quiet  his  fears,  and  he  now  really 
wished  he  had  not  come.  He  wiis  ])resontly 
reassured,  however,  when  liis  liost  opom-d  tlie 
door,  and,  with  perfect  urbanity,  asked  liim  tt)  pass 
into  the  dining-room  and  partake  of  the  frugal  fare 
of  the  house. 

Entering  the  dining-room,  his  olfactory  organs 
were  very  agreeably  titillated  by  the  fragrant  aroma 
of  delicious  coifee  with  cream,  while  fried  ham  and 
eggs,  with  broiled  chicken  and  sundry  sweetmeats, 
were  spread  in  profusion  upon  the  table.  At  the 
first  glance  over  this  table  our  hero  rejoiced  in- 
wardly at  the  success  which  thus  attended  upon  this 
his  first  real  "  struggle  for  hash,"  by  which  uncouth 
term  he  was  always  accustomed  to  designate  his 
daily  bread.  His  fears  for  the  future,  and  suspi- 
cions of  his  present  surroundings,  vanished  in  the 
deep  enjo}Tnent  he  manifested  in  subfluing  the 
entire  bill  of  fare  arrayed  before  him.  The  pleas- 
ures of  the  table  were  in  no  way  lessened  by  the 
entrance  during  the  meal  of  a  most  charming 
young  lady  of  some  twenty  summers,  and  whom 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  31 

the  host  introduced  as  his  daughter,  and  who  was 
certainly  as  perfect  a  type  of  Southern  beauty  as 
our  hero  had  yet  seen,  and,  being  as  pleasant  as  she 
was    handsome,   our  susceptible    and   enthusiastic 
young  lieutenant  quickly  drew  her  into  an  enter- 
tertaining  conversation,     ^o  wonder  the  delicious 
food,  the  beauty  of  the  young  lady,  the  "feast  of 
reason  and  the  flow  of  soul,"  all  combined  to  cause 
the  moments  to  fly  fast  on  gilded  wings,  till  our 
friend  saw  ^\^th  astonishment  that  he  had  scarcely 
left  himself  time  to  get  back  to  the  scene  of  his 
duties  before  his  squad  of  laborers  must  be   re- 
called for  the  night.     Hastily  turning  to  the  lady's 
father  he  asked  him  how  much  he  was  indebted  for 
this  royal  feast  for  the  body,  and  adding  as  he  took 
out  his  pocketbook,  "  I  am  aware  that  for  the  more 
than  royal  feast  for  my  mind,  and,  if  that  were 
possible,  I  would  say  the  still  greater  feast  for  my 
eyes  also"— ^vith   a  glance   at   the   young  lady— 
"  I  am  aware  I  must  always  remain  in  your  debt, 
as  no  amount  of  money  would  be  a  fair  equivalent 
for  these  last."     The  young  lady  blushed,  bowed, 
and  smiled,  till  our  hero  thought  if  he  did  not  leave 
at  once  he  would  never  be  able  to  tear  himself 
away. 

But  imagine  his  astonishment  and  chagrin  when 
his  host  arose  and  proceeded  to  express  himself  as 
follows  :  "  You  owe  me  nothing,  sir,  not  one  cent. 


32  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

On  the  contrary,  I  am  only  too  glad  to  have  an  op- 
portunity to  serve  my  country.  I  have,  I  hope, 
complied  with  the  laws  of  hospitality  by  giving 
you,  ^vithout  price,  the  best  that  our  house  could 
afford.  I  have  also  endeavored  to  do  my  duty  to 
my  country,  for  as  a  loyal  citizen,  loyaJ.,  I  mean,  to 
the  South,  I  could  do  no  otherwise  than,  as  soon  as 
you  arrived  here,  to  send  at  once  to  the  nearest 
pickets  of  the  Confederate  cavalry,  and  notify 
them  that  you  were  here,  and  that  I  would  en- 
deavor to  keep  you  here  until  a  detachment  could 
come  and  take  you  into  custody  as  a  prisoner  of 
war.  They  arrived  about  ten  minutes  ago,  coming 
up  by  the  rear  way  and  entering  by  the  back  d(jor. 
They  are  now  in  the  adjoining  room,  but  I  wc.uld 
not  let  them  disturb  you  until  you  had  finished 
your  repast."  As  he  ceased  speaking  he  threw 
open  the  door  of  the  next  room  and  exposed  to 
view  about  a  dozen  soldiers  in  the  well-known  gray 
of  the  enemy !  Immediately  these  rushed  upon 
our  friend  to  secure  him.  But  the  lieutenant's 
coolness  never  for  a  second  deserted  him  in  any 
emergency.  Quicker  than  a  flash  a  revolver  was 
out  and  cocked  in  his  hand,  and  two  or  three  of  his 
assailants  would  then  and  there  have  bitten  the 
dust,  but  in  an  instant  the  host  had  sprung  in  front 
of  him,  shouting,  "  Ilold,  Lieutenant.  Don't  you 
see  resistance  is  useless  I     Suppose  you  killed  all  of 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  33 

these  men,  whicli  is  impossible,  there  are  a  dozen 
more  outside  guarding  the  house,  who  would 
avenge  their  comrades  at  once,  so  your  only  course 
is  to  surrender,  as  3^ou  can't  do  otherwise."  As  the 
soldiers  by  this  time  had  brought  their  carbines  to 
bear  upon  him,  ready  for  instant  discharge  if  he 
still  resisted,  he  saw  that  the  only  thing  for  him  to 
do  was  to  submit  with  as  good  a  grace  as  possible, 
but  turning  to  his  host  he  scornfully  asked  him  if 
this  was  his  boasted  hospitality,  to  betray  a  guest 
while  receiving  his  confidence.  "Were  it  not," 
said  he,  warming  up  with  the  subject,  "  were  it  not 
for  that  beautiful  and  innocent  daughter  of  yours 
now  standing  there,  and  who  I  never  will  believe 
was  cognizant  of  this  base  betrayal,  I  would  drop 
you  dead  on  the  spot  where  you  now  stand,  l)ut  I 
do  not  wish  to  make  her  an  orphan  ;  therefore  look 
at  her,  and  thank  her  that  you  are  still  alive." 

He  had  not  yet  learned  that  "  all  is  fair  in  love 
and  war,"  "but  he  had  a  very  high  and  keen  sense  of 
honor  that  nothing  in  his  whole  life  could  diminish. 

The  daughter  first  blushed  violently,  then  turned 
deadly  pale  as  she  reahzed  the  danger  through 
which  Jber  beloved  father  had  just  passed.  And 
she  had  reason  to  be  alarmed,  for  our  hero  spoke 
the  truth,  and  would  undoubtedly  have  killed  her 
father — after  £nding  resistance  to  the  others  was 
useless — to  repay  what  he  considered  the  baseness 


34  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

of  his  betrayal.  He  had  the  most  snpreme  con- 
tempt for  everything  mean,  low,  or  dishonorable, 
and  as  of  that  nature  he  looked  upon  the  action 
of  his  host,  who  now  regarded  his  late  guest  with 
something  of  a  confused  smile,  but  with  evidently 
a  look  of  admiration  upon  his  countenance  for 
the  bold  and  brave  behavior  of  Lieutenant  Lock- 
well. 

Meanwliile  the  soldiers  had  disarmed  and  bound 
him,  and  after  a  hurried  consultation  on  one  side 
and  among  themselves,  proceeded  to  blindfold  him. 
But  at  this  he  strongly  objected,  saying  that  he  liad 
surrendered  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  that  he  de- 
manded to  be  treated  as  such,  and  they  had  no 
right  to  blindfold  him. 

The  way  he  was  bound  escape  was  impossible, 
and  he  was  willing  to  go  \vith  them  and  would 
make  no  resistance,  why  then  should  they  blind- 
fold him  ?  But  his  protestations  were  to  no  pur- 
pose. Securely  and  tightly  they  bound  his  eyes 
with  a  handkerchief,  tied  his  arms  behind  liis 
back,  and  started  off  at  a  brisk  walk. 

Imagine  the  feelings  of  this  man  in  the  predica- 
ment which  he  had  brought  upon  himself.  When 
he  came  to  think  upon  the  whole  matter  he  had  not 
a  doubt  that  when  they  missed  him  from  camp  he 
would  be  put  down  as  a  deserter !  He  had  left  his 
post  of  duty  without  any  good  cause,  and   gone 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  35 

straight  toward  the  enemy's  lines,  and  had  not  re- 
turned.    Could  anything  be  plainer? 

To  be  treated  with  all  the  hardships  of  a  prisoner 
of  war  in  one  camp,  and  at  the  same  time  to  be 
considered  a  deserter  in  the  other,  was  a  fate 
scarcely  to  be  envied. 

The  suffering  and  the  hardship  he  was  willing  to 
bear ;  he  felt  somewhat  as  though  he  had  deserved 
them,  but  the  idea  that  his  name  should  be  looked 
upon  with  contempt  by  nearly  all  his  acquaintances 
was  extremely  gaUing  to  his  proud  spirit,  and 
shook  his  very  soul  with  anguish. 

He  knew,  of  course,  that  there  were  some  of  his 
friends — those  best  acquainted  with  him — who 
never  for  a  moment  would  believe  that  he  had  de- 
serted to  the  enemy  voluntarily.  But  to  most  of 
his  acquaintances,  and  to  the  world  at  large,  would 
not  the  proof  of  his  desertion  be  indubitable  and 
irrefutable?  The  thought  was  anguish.  However, 
he  was  a  thorough  philosopher,  and  after  assuring 
himself  that  he  could  at  present  do  nothing  toward 
escape,  or  to  relieve  himself  in  any  way,  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  bear  whatever  fortune  was  thrust 
upon  him  like  a  man  and  a  soldier.  Yet  he  could 
not  but  think  it  was  hard. 

He  had  not  been  very  long  in  the  service  of  the 
Union,  yet  he  had  won  the  esteem  of  his  superior 
officers,  the  respect  of  the  soldiers,  and  the  strong 


36  ZZV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

friendship  of  his  comrades,  and  to  liave  liis  name 
now  cut  off  the  m\ister  Tolls  in  disgrace  was  hor- 
rible. Was  there  no  remedj  ?  He  could  think  of 
none.  Torture  his  mind  as  he  mij^ht,  he  could 
think  of  no  way  of  escape— 710  way,  eveti,  to  make 
his  true  position  known.  "There  was  but  one 
course  he  was  detennined  to  pursue,  and  that  was 
to  bear  himself  with  dignity  before  his  captors,  and 
trust  to  luck  to  better  his  condition. 

Oh,  would  they  never  arrive  at  their  destination ! 
Wherever  that  was,  he  wanted  to  get  there  and 
know  what  was  to  be  done  \\\i\\  him.  "  Well,"  he 
thought,  "  the  very  worst  possible  is  to  send  me  to 
Richmond  or  Andcrsonville  prison,  and  then  when 
the  war  is  over  I  can  explain  it  all  and  redeem  my 
«good  name.  But  when  will  this  war  be  over  ?  And 
how  many,  how  very  many,  will  die  in  the  mean- 
time, and  neither  their  names,  fate,  nor  resting- 
places  will  ever  be  kno\vn.  Shall  mine  be  a  similar 
fate?  and  shall  future  generations,  looking  back 
over  our  honorable  genealogical  tree,  remark, 
*  There  is  only  one  blot  upon  our  escutcheon — when 
Joseph  Lockwell  deserted  from  his  country's  ranks 
during  the  hour  of  her  most  pressing  need,  and 
joined  the  anuy  of  her  foes  ? '  "  All  these  thoughts 
and  many  more  passed  through  his  mind  while 
being  hurried  along  as  a  prisoner.  But  their  desti- 
nation was  reached  at  last.     By  the  hum  and  buzz 


TBIED  AS  A  SPY.  37 

of  soldiers  he  knew  he  was  bemg  led  through  a 
camp,  though  he  could  see  nothing. 

Tliey  stop  at  last,  and  he  is  roughly  thi-ust 
thi'ough  a  door  into  a  room  which  is  totally  dark, 
having  no  windows,  but  which  otherwise  is  com- 
fortably arranged.  He  is  scarcely  seated  when  he 
is  visited  by  an  officer  in  gray,  who  notifies  him  to 
hold  himself  in  readiness  for  a  speedy  court-martial. 
"  A  court-martial !"  he  exclaims,  "  and  for  what  ? 
Do  you  court-martial  all  your  prisoners  of  war  V 
"  Oh,  no,"  was  the  reply ;  "  only  those  who,  like 
yourself,  are  taken  within  our  lines  as  spies  !"  Had 
a  thunderbolt  fallen  at  our  poor  friend's  feet  it  could 
not  have  startled  him  more.  It  was  wholly  unex- 
pected and  unthought  of.  To  be  tried  as  a  spy 
within  the  enemy's  camp  and  perhaps  found  guilty 
and  shot !  Here  was  food  for  reflection.  Consid- 
ered as  a  deserter  in  one  anny  and  shot  as  a  spy  in 
the  other !  The  more  he  thought  of  it  the  better 
satisfied  he  was  that  such  indeed  would  be  his  fate. 
And  all  this  because  he  had  only  wanted  a  "  square 
meal." 

He  had  but  few  hours  to  reflect  upon  his  situa- 
tion (and  no  one  could  envy  him  those  reflections) 
when  an  orderly  announced  that  the  court-martial 
was  then  convened  and  sitting,  about  to  try  his 
case,  and  directly  after  two  of  the  guard  who  had 
brou<>;ht  him  in  entered  and  conducted  him  into  an- 


38  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

other  apartment,  where,  around  a  table,  were  gath- 
ered five  persons  in  oflBcers'  uniform  of  the  Confed- 
erate service;  one  or  two  were  furtlier  distinguislicd 
by  the  insignia  of  very  high  rank. 

After  glancing  at  the  countenances  of  all  these 
men  he  felt  his  doom  was  sealed.  He  thought 
tliat  he  could  plainly  read  a  set  determination  in  the 
face  of  each  one  to  ])ring  in  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and 
in  this  he  was  probably  correct,  as  the  sequel  will 
show. 

On  entering  he  was  asked  to  state  his  name  and 
rank,  lie  did  so.  Then — "  You  are  charged  with 
being  a  spy  belonging  to  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,  and  captured  within  the  patroling  lines  of 
the  Confederate  oavalry.  What  have  you  to  sjiy 
why  you  should  not  be  treated  as  such,  and  be  sen- 
tenced to  be  shot,  as  is  the  custom  among  the 
armies  of  all  civilized  countries?"  Rising  to  his 
feet  the  lieutenant  burst  forth  into  an  indignant 
protest  against  being  considered  as  a  spy.  lie  asked 
them  what  line  of  sentinels  he  had  tried  to  pass  ? 
Where  was  he  attempting  to  gain  any  information 
in  regard  to  the  rebel  movements  ?  Ilere  he  was 
interrupted  to  the  effect  that  his  hearers  knew  noth- 
ing of  any  rebels ;  that  if  it  was  the  Confederate 
army  he  referred  to,  he  had  better  speak  in  a  more 
respectful  tone.  He  was  then  asked  if  he  did  not 
know  that  the  Confederate  cavalry  passed  between 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  39 

that  house  where  he  was  caught,  and  the  Federal 
outposts?  He  replied  that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  know  anything  of  the  kind,  as  he  had  never 
before  been  sent  out  in  that  direction.  To-daj  was 
the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  the  house  or  the  ad- 
joining fields,  and  that  he  was  sent  out  there  in 
charge  of  a  party  who  were —  He  stopped  sudden- 
ly on  getting  so  far,  bethinking  that  he  was  about  to 
reveal  that  which  miglit  be  of  service  to  the  enemy. 
The  presiding  officer  asked  him  why  he  stopped, 
and  desired  him  to  continue  and  tell  what  he  waa 
doing  there  in  view  of  that  house  with  the  party 
which  he  just  mentioned  as  he  stopped.  "  That," 
repHed  our  friend,  "  you  will  have  to  send  to  the 
commanding  officer  of  the  Federal  camp  to  ascer- 
tain." 

"  But,"  said  the  officer,  do  you  not  know  that  the 
testimony  of  these  soldiers  who  took  you,  together 
with  that  of  the  man  at  whose  house  you  were  stop- 
ping, and  also  of  his  daughter,  has  been  taken,  and 
that  it  is  all  against  you  ?  Are  you  not  aware  that 
the  young  lady  swore  that  you  questioned  her  re- 
peatedly in  regard  to  the  strength  of  the  Confeder- 
ate forces  in  the  vicinity,  and  also — "  "  It  is  false," 
thundered  the  lieutenant ;  "  after  stating  that  lie  I 
don't  and  won't  believe  a  single  statement  you  have 
made  or  may  make.  I  needed  but  one  look  at  that 
fair  young  face  to  know  she  would  never  swear  to  a 


40  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

deliberate  Ue,  and  as  I  never  asked  her  any  sucli 
questions,  I  am  satislied  she  never  so  testified  ;  not 
but  what  I  would  have  asked  her  had  I  supposed 
for  a  moment  she  was  at  all  acquainted  with  Con- 
federate matters  ;  I  should  tlien  liave  tried  to  get 
all  the  information  possible  that  might  have  bene- 
fited the  Federal,  or  injured  the  cause  of  tlie  re- 
bellion ;  ])ut  not  knowing  your  lines  ever  extended 
beyond  that  house,  I  never  thought  of  her  possess- 
ing any  information.  She  is  incapable  of  swearing 
to  a  lie,  and  if  a  falsehood  lies  between  her  and  this 
court,  I  know  right  well  that  s/te  is  innocent." 

The  court  did  not  appear  to  get  (piitc  so  indig- 
nant over  this  indirect  accusation  of  falsehood  as  the 
lieutenant  had  expected ;  but  they  all  rose  and  re- 
tired to  tlie  further  end  of  the  room  and  consulted 
together  in  a  low  tone  for  several  minutes.  After- 
ward, returning  to  the  tiible  the  spokesman  resumed  : 
"The  court,  after  due  deli])ei*ation,  and  fully  con- 
sidering all  the  evidence,  together  with  your  own 
admissions,  are  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  you 
be  found  guilty  of  the  charge  of  being  a  Federal 
spy,  and  that  you  be  sentenced  to  be  shot  at  sunset 
this  evening''  (it  was  already  past  midnight  and  he 
spoke  of  the  sunset  of  the  coming  day),  '*  but,"  he 
continued  slowly,  "military  exigencies  and  the  good 
of  the  service  sometimes  require  tliat  we  take  every 
means  in  our  power  to  secui'e  information  upon 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  41 

every  point  of  interest,  and,"  he  hesitatingly  pro- 
ceeded, "  it  is  now  in  your  power,  before  the  ver- 
dict of  this  court  is  rendered,  to  change  it  from 
guilty  to  not  guilty  of  the  charge  of  being  a  sj^y. 
In  the  former  case  you  will  be  taken  out  and  shot 
v^lead  at  sunset  this  evening,  but  in  the  latter  case 
you  will  simply  be  held  here  as  a  prisoner  of  war, 
and  doubtless  in  a  few  days  you  will  be  exchanged 
and  sent  back  to  your  friends." 

"  Speak  plainly,"  replied  the  prisoner,  "  and  tell 
me  what  you  witjh  of  me,  and  if  it  is  anything  I 
can  honorably  do  rest  assured  that  I  will  not  delay. 
Life  is  as  sweet  to  me  as  it  can  possibly  be  to  any 
one.  I  am  young  and  have  long  looked  foi-ward  to 
a  life  of  happiness  and  pleasure,  and  I  confess  that 
I  do  not  now  wish  to  relinquish  all  those  hopes. 
Tell  me,  then,  what  I  am  to  do.  Do  not  keep  me 
in  suspense." 

"  Simply  and  only,"  replied  the  presiding  officer, 
"  to  tell  us  what  you  were  doing  with  the  party  you 
had  under  your  command  before  you  started 
for  the  house  where  you  were  captured.  Tell  this, 
and  you  change  our  verdict  from  guilty  to  not 
guilty.     Now  what  say  you  ?" 

Rising  to  his  full  height  and  folding  his  arms,  the 
lieutenant  contemplated  the  party  before  him  for  a 
full  minute  with  most  unmistakable  scorn  and  con- 
tempt in  every  feature,  then  replied :  "  And  do  you 


42  IN  SEARCH  OF  OOLD. 

for  one  moment  believe  that  when  I  took  the  oath 
to  risk  my  Hfe  for  my  country,  and  serve  her  faith- 
fully, that  I  intended  to  perjure  myself  ?  "Would 
I  be  serving  her  faithfully  to  betray  even  her 
smallest  secrets  to  her  most  malignant  foe^  Do 
you  imagine  I  considered  that  oath  but  an  empty 
form  of  words,  to  be  disregarded  at  the  first  sign 
of  danger?  No,  I  intended  then  to  remain  l)y  my 
musket  at  the  post  of  duty,  stand  or  fall,  and  I  in- 
tend now  to  do  my  duty  till  I  fall  at  this  evening's 
sunset.  Sujjposiiig  I  accepted  your  clemency  on  the 
terms  proposed,  and  thereby  forfeited  my  honor, 
do  you  suppose  I  could  ever  hold  up  my  licad 
again  among  my  friends  where  the  linger  of  scorn 
would  be  constantly  pointing  me  out  with  the  re- 
mark, '  There  goes  a  man  who  betrayed  his  country 
to  save  his  own  pusillanimous  life,'  and  do  you 
suppose  I  could  endure  all  this  and  live  ?  No !  my 
own  hand  would  then  take  the  worthless  life  which 
you  had  spared,  and  I  should  add  the  crime  of  self- 
nmrdcr  to  that  of  treason.  No,  I  prefer  the  guilt 
of  murder  shall  be  upon  your  shoulders,  while  I 
will  die  innocent  of  all  intended  wrong.  Order 
your  minions,  then,  to  charge  well  their  guns  that 
my  death  may  be  quick  and  sure.  More  than  this, 
I  have  but  one  favor  to  ask  of  you  :  I  do  most  ear- 
nestly beseech  yon  the  first  time  you  hold  any  com- 
munication with  onr  forces,  send  some  knowledge 


TBIED  AS  A  SPY.  43 

of  my  fate  to  the  Federal  camp,  for  there,  I  do 
not  doubt,  I  am  considered  as  a  deserter,  and  a 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  I  perished  here  as  a  spy 
will  remove  the  only  disgrace  that  ever  attached  to 
the  name  of  Lockwell.  This  is  a  small  favor  to  ask 
and  I  do  not  believe  you  will  refuse  it  to  a  dying 
man ;  for  the  rest,  if  this  is  to  be  my  last  day  on 
earth,  let  me  have  it  all  to  myself,  and  bring  this 
wretched  farce  of  a  trial  to  an  end." 

"Yery  well,  sir,  you  will  now  be  sent  back  to 
your  room,  and  we  invite  you  to  consider  upon  our 
proposition,  and  remember  it  can  make  no  earthly 
difference  to  your  side  if  you  accept  of  our  offered 
clemency  or  not,  as  we  can  send  out  a  small  scout- 
ing party,  and  in  an  hour  or  two,  at  furthest,  we 
will  know  just  what  you  were  doing,  and  have 
found  out  all  that  you  could  by  any  possibility  tell 
us,  and  we  only  make  you  this  offer  anyway,  to 
save  our  cavalry  that  little  trouble,  and  because  we 
would  all  be  glad  to  have  you  save  your  own  life, 
as  now  you  can  lionorably  do.  There  should  be  no 
question  that  the  services  of  an  able-bodied  young 
officer  like  yourself  would  be  of  far  more  benefit 
to  your  country  than  would  result  from  your 
withholding  for  an  hour  or  two  the  information 
which  we  will  get  by  noon  to-morrow  at  all  events. 
Therefore  we  will  give  you  till  eight  o'clock  to- 
morrow morning,  or  rather  till  eight  o'clock  this 


44  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

morning,  as  it  is  now  past  midnight,  to  decide 
whether  you  will  live  or  die.  The  choice  is  in 
your  own  hands,  and  you  can  do  either  honorably, 
for  it  cannot  be  called  dishonorable  to  reveal  at 
eight  what  you  are  aware  we  can  easily  find  out 
by  twelve,  and  by  so  doing  you  save  the  future 
services  of  a  fine  yoimg  ofliccr  for  his  country." 
And  the  speaker  smiled  as  though  he  could  not  re- 
press his  admiration  for  the  prisoner,  though  com- 
pelled to  treat  him  as  a  spy.  The  interview  was 
then  brought  to  a  close,  and  our  hero  was  conducted 
back  to  the  room  he  had  pre^nously  occupied,  and 
left  to  his  o^vn  meditations.  What  they  were  can 
better  be  imagined  than  described. 

Strive  with  himself  as  he  would,  the  words  were 
continually  ringing  in  his  ears,  "  the  choice  of  life 
or  death  is  in  your  own  hands,  and  you  can  save 
yourself  honorably  if  you  choose."  Was  this  so, 
then  ?  In  the  first  place,  the  information  that  he 
and  his  party  were  engaged  in  throwing  up  earth- 
works in  a  certain  position  was  of  very  little  im- 
portance ;  it  would  probably  do  no  harm  to  have 
it  known.  In  the  second  place,  there  was  no  earth- 
ly reason  to  prevent  any  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
be  they  few  or  many,  from  riding  within  plain 
view  of  these  same  earthworks,  and  easily  seeing 
all  he  could  tell  them,  at  any  rate,  and  they  would 
certainly  do  so  to-morrow.     Why  not,  then,  simply 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  45 

say  that  he  was  engaged  in  throwing  up  earthworks, 
and  so  save  his  life  ?  It  was  a  terrible  temptation ! 
Could  any  temptation  have  been  greater?  Yes, 
there  was  one  still  greater,  and  he  was  about  to  be 
tried  with  it.  It  was  not  yet  break  of  day  when 
lie  received  a  note  signed  by  all  the  members  of 
the  court-martial  officially,  stating  at  some  lengtli 
that  lie  had  awakened  a  great  deal  of  sympathy 
among  them  at  his  hard  fate;  but  he  was  well 
aware  that  military  duty  was  inexorable ;  that  they 
could  not  be  as  lenient  as  they  could  wish,  yet  cer- 
tain discretionary  powers  were  left  with  them,  of 
which  they  had  taken  advantage  to  make  him  the 
offer  contained  in  their  previous  proposition,  and 
by  virtue  of  which  they  now  extended  that  offer  to 
the  effect  that  if  he  would  comply  with  the  prop- 
osition already  made,  his  escape  on  the  ensuing 
night  should  be  connived  at,  and  he  would  be  al- 
lowed to  rejoin  his  own  forces,  and  no  particulars 
of  the  matter  should  ever  transpire.  Nothing 
would  ever  be  known  to  the  world,  except  that 
a  prisoner  of  war,  through  the  negligence  of  the 
guard,  had  escaped  and  rejoined  the  Federal  forces. 
And  they  closed  by  saying  that  if  they  had  stretched 
the  privilege  allowed  them,  it  was  on  the  side  of 
mercy,  and  in  behalf  of  one  whose  brave  though 
mistaken  sentiments  had  awakened  compassion  in 
the  hearts  of  every  member  of  the  coui't-mai'tial. 


46  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

But  this  was  their  ultimatum;  tliey  could  do  no 
more  than  make  this  offer ;  it  was  for  liim  to  accept. 
As  he  read  this  note  \y  the  flickering  light  of  a 
tallow  candle  he  groaned  in  spirit.  "Ingenious 
devils,"  he  cried,  "  well  you  know  that  the  tempta- 
tion already  was  almost  more  than  I  could  with- 
stand, and  now  to  the  bribe  of  life,  which  you 
offered,  you  add  that  of  immediate  liberty,  and  the 
privilege  of  rejoining  my  regiment,  where  I  can  at 
once  rescue  my  name  from  disgrace  and  ignominy. 
And  nothing  will  ever  be  imagined  but  that,  by  my 
own  ingenuity  and  daring,  I  escaped  captivity,  and 
all  for  making  a  simple  statement  that,  as  far  as  I 
can  see,  could  do  no  harm  to  the  Federal  cause." 
But,  then,  on  the  other  hand,  why  did  they  offer 
him  all  this  for  information  which  they  could  so 
easily  obtain  themselves  ?  The  more  he  thought  of 
it  the  more  strange  it  seemed  that  they  should 
offer  such  strong  inducements  unless  they  consid- 
ered that  knowledge  of  Federal  matters  in  that 
locality  was  all  important.  Perhaps  they  were 
meditating  an  attack — a  surprise — upon  the  Union 
camp,  and  were  then  trying  to  find  the  weakest 
and  most  vulnerable  point.  If  so  the  very  small- 
est information  might  work  great  injury  to  the 
cause  of  his  adoption.  Still,  for  many  reasons,  he 
did  not  think  they  meditated  any  such  attack  ;  and 
they  had  explained  their  course  by  saying  that, 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  47 

though  their  duty  compelled  them  in  accordance 
with  the  circumstances  and  evidence  to  condemn 
and  sentence  him,  thej  would  gladly  save  his  life, 
and  took  the  only  means  allowed  them  as  consistent 
with  their  duty,  to  offer  him  his  hfe  on  the  only 
condition  possible,  that  he  should  give  information, 
nominally,  but  really  only  such  information  as 
would  be  of  little  or  no  use  to  them,  and  of  no 
injury  to  the  Federal  cause.  But  then  why  did 
they  take  such  an  interest  in  him  as  to  offer  him 
such  simple  conditions  of  saving  his  hfe  ?  Then, 
too,  why  had  they  Hed  about  the  testimony  that 
was  given  by  that  young  lady  ?  For  he  felt  cer- 
tain that  she  had  never  sworn  falsely  in  the  matter. 
He  wished  he  could  see  her  just  for  one  second, 
only  to  tell  her  that  he  never  for  one  moment  be- 
lieved it  of  her,  and  to  tell  her  also  that  he  was  no 
spy.  If  he  Hved  he  would  go  and  see  her  again. 
If  he  lived  ?  What  chance  was  there  for  life  unless 
he  accepted  their  conditions?  He  felt  that  there 
was  none  whatever,  and  was  he  really  debating  in 
his  mind  whether  to  accept  those  conditions  or  not  ? 
He  hoped  not,  for  try  as  he  might,  the  question 
would  only  present  itself  to  him  as  a  choice  be- 
tween a  life  of  disgrace  and  dishonor,  and  a  noble, 
honorable  death.  And  he  would  not  hesitate  upon 
any  choice  hke  that.  No,  perish  the  thought  of 
life  upon  such  terms.    He  would  welcome  death, 


48  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

more  especially  as  when  known  it  would  wipe  out 
all  dishonor  from  his  name  in  his  own  camp.  For, 
when  they  heard  that  he  had  been  shot  as  a  spy, 
they  would  know  that  he  had  not  deserted.  There 
was  great  comfort  in  this  thought.  But,  then, 
would  they  hear  of  it  at  all  ?  Alas,  he  feared  lliey 
might  not.  His  mind  was  distracted  with  doubts 
whether  the  true  story  of  his  death  would  ever  be 
made  known.  Soldiers,  amid  the  blood  and  carnage 
of  war,  had  enough  to  occupy  their  thoughts  with- 
out striving  to  vindicate  the  reputation  of  a  dead 
companion  in  arms.  His  mind  fully  made  up  as  to 
his  decision  and  course  of  action,  he  now  turned  his 
thoughts  to  death  itself,  and  mused  long  and 
earnestly  upon  the  subject. 

In  twenty-four  hours  he  would  be  dead,  buried, 
and  lying  cold  in  his  grave.  There  was  mucli  food 
for  thought  on  that  subject.  Well,  he  would  die 
like  a  man  and  a  soldier.  He  had  nothing  on  his 
conscience  to  trouble  him.  There  was  no  person  in 
the  wide  world,  neither  man  nor  woman,  boy  nor 
girl,  whose  forgiveness  he  would  have  wished  to 
ask.  He  beUeved  that  there  was  no  living  creature, 
not  even  a  beast  of  the  field,  that  he  had  knowingly 
or  willingly  injured.  He  had  not  done  as  much 
good  in  the  world  as  he  could  have  wished.  His 
life  had  not  been  of  as  much  benefit  to  others  as  it 
should  have  been,  doubtless.    But  his  sins,  if  any, 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  49 

were  those  of  omission  and  not  of  commission. 
Years  before,  lie  had  adopted  his  only  code  of  mor- 
als, briefest  among  the  brief,  yet  he  had  found  it 
all-sufficient,  and  to-night,  with  only  a  few  hours 
more  of  life,  he  could  think  of  no  better  one,  nor 
wish  to  make  any  improvement  upon  that.  Well 
observed  and  followed  during  life,  he  felt  sure  that 
there  was  no  better  one  to  die  by. 

Reader,  have  you  any  curiosity  to  know  what 
this,  the  simplest  of  rehgions  and  most  efficient  of 
all  codes  of  morals,  is  ?  We  will  give  you  the  whole 
of  it  and  then  cordially  invite  you  to  compare  it 
with  any  one  or  all  of  the  thousand  different  relig- 
ions and  codes  of  morals  patronized  by  others,  and 
let  it  stand  or  fall  by  that  comparison  fairly  made. 
It  consists  of  two  parts  only :  first  the  command,  or 
injunction,  and  next  the  explanation. 

First :  Do  that  which  is  right. 

Second :  Wliatever  increases,  directly  or  indirect- 
ly, the  sum  of  happiness  in  the  world,  or  lessens 
misery,  is  right,  and  its  necessary  corollary,  what- 
ever increases  misery  or  lessens  happiness  is  wrong 
and  should  be  avoided.  This  is  all.  Too  simple  to 
be  of  much  importance,  and  yet,  as  he  was  thinking 
upon  this  matter  now,  with  all  the  intensity  of  his 
vigorous  mind,  rendered  preternaturally  acute  by 
the  near  approach  of  death,  he  could  not  fail  to 
realize  how  vastly  better  this  world  would  be,  if 


50  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

every  human  being  would  drop  all  other  creeds  and 
live  up  to  this  one  alone.  It  seemed  to  him  that  all 
other  creeds  had  been  pretty  thoroughly  tried,  and 
their  benefit  to  mankind  proved  nil,  and  now  man- 
kind might  do  worse  than  give  this  little  one  a  fair 
trial.  He  beheved  it  the  best  to  hve  and  the  best 
to  die  by.  Such  were  the  thoughts  that  passed 
rapidly  through  Lockwell's  mind  during  tliis,  what 
he  considered  his  last  night  upon  earth.  In  the 
morning  he  would  ask  for  pen  and  ink  and  write  a 
few  letters  to  relatives  and  friends;  they  would 
probably  never  be  received,  yet  they  might,  and  it 
would  do  no  harm  to  ask  to  have  them  kept  until 
opportunity  offered  to  send  them  across  the  hues. 
That  was  all ;  he  would  have  no  further  prepara- 
tions to  make.  He  would  try  to  pass  the  day  as 
composedly  as  possible.  Yet  the  idea  was  terri]>le 
to  be  shot  as  a  spy  in  the  evening !  The  more  lie 
pondered  upon  the  matter  the  more  he  detennined 
to  try  and  find  some  other  means  of  lea\ang  the 
world.  He  hoped  that  during  the  day  he  would 
find  some  means  of  taking  his  own  life,  and  if  so, 
he  would  certainly  improve  the  opportunity.  Any 
death  would  be  preferable  to  being  shot  as  a  spy. 
But  how  to  take  his  own  life,  that  was  the  question. 
He  pondered  long  and  deeply  upon  this  point,  but 
it  was  not  till  near  the  break  of  day  that  an  idea  oc- 
curred to  him,  which,  if  he  could  succeed  in  putting 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  51 

into  practice,  would  terminate  his  life  soon  after 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Though  this  plan 
would  prevent  him  from  wiiting  letters,  yet  he 
resolved  to  adopt  it.  He  had  made  many  eiiorts 
to  get  some  sleej),  but  without  success,  and  now, 
since  he  had  fully  resolved  upon  his  jDlan  of  action, 
all  thoughts  of  sleep  were  banished  from  his  mind. 
He  took  his  pencil  and  some  letters  he  had  in  his 
pocket  and  wrote  on  the  backs  of  them  a  full  ac- 
count of  how  he  came  into  his  present  position,  how 
he  was  doomed  to  die,  and  how  he  intended  to  fore- 
stall that  doom  by  drawing  the  fire  of  the  guard 
upon  him  and  die,  not  as  a  condemned  spy,  for  the 
court  had  not  yet  passed  their  verdict  upon  him, 
but  as  an  escaping  prisoner  of  war,  for  such  would 
be  the  result  if  his  plan  succeeded  before  the  judges 
of  the  court-martial  pronounced  that  sentence 
upon  him  which  had  been  postponed  to  give  him 
an  opportunity  to  change  the  verdict. 

While  in  the  room  where  the  court  was  sitting 
he  had  noticed  that  the  window  curtain  was  drawn 
tight  down  so  as  to  hide  the  view  from  the  outside, 
but  as  the  weather  was  warm,  and  as  he  had  noticed 
some  movements  or  undulations  of  the  curtain,  he 
not  unnaturally  concluded  that  the  window  outside 
of  or  behind  it  was  wide  open.  He  also  thought 
that  at  the  hour  appointed  to  hear  his  decision 
(eight  o'clock)  he  would  be  taken  into  the  same 


52  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

room  to  decide  the  matter,  and  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  then  and  there  spring  through  the  window 
and  either  kill  himself  in  the  fall,  which,  however, 
was  not  Hkely,  or,  continuing  his  flight,  bring  down 
the  fire  of  the  guards  and  sentries  upon  himself, 
and  so  be  killed.  That  was  all,  and  that  now  being 
settled  and  his  writing  finished,  his  mind  was  quiet, 
and,  though  nearly  six  o'clock,  he  fell  into  a  quiet 
sleep  and  slept  till  a  little  after  seven.  He  then 
arose,  and  calmly  regarded  his  watch  as  the  hands 
moved  quickly  around.  Five  minutes  to  eight  ar- 
rived, and  his  door  was  opened.  The  same  two 
guards  with  solemn  visage  who  had  conducted  him 
on  the  preceding  evening  now  requested  him  to  come 
once  more  before  the  court.  His  heart  beat  high 
with  the  prospect  of  almost  immediate  death,  but 
he  was  outwardly  as  calm  as  he  had  ever  been.  Ar- 
rived in  the  court  chamber,  he  shot  a  quick  glance 
at  the  window ;  the  curtain  was  down,  so  that  he 
could  not  see  whether  the  window  was  up  or  not, 
but  from  the  feeling  of  the  atmosphere  he  thought 
it  was.  Still  the  doubt  produced  great  anxiety  in 
his  mind.  All  his  hopes  of  a  speedy  death  were 
centred  upon  that  window.  K  that  was  closed  his 
plans  had  failed.  "Well,  sir,"  said  the  same 
spokesman  as  of  yesterday,  "  we  hope  we  may  con- 
gratulate you  upon  your  determination  to  have  a 


TRIED  A8  A  SPY.  63 

long  and  prosperous  life  before  you,  and  that  you 
will  now  give  us  the  information  spoken  of." 

"  Gentlemen,"  replied  Lockwell,  "  the  dishon- 
ored life  you  offer  to  me  I  would  not  hold  as  a 
gift.  As  I  have  always  lived,  so  will  I  die,  with- 
out a  stain  upon  my  name.  Receive  this  as  my 
final  answer,  and  cease  to  persecute  me  with  these 
offers  which  are  and  can  be  no  temptation  to  a 
man  of  honor.  But,  gentlemen,  as  I  am  no  spy,  I 
refuse  to  die  as  a  spy !  I  will  not  stand  up  in  the 
place  of  a  condemned  spy,  to  be  shot  at  by  your 
traitorous  bullets.  I  prefer  to  die  now,  at  this  mo- 
ment, before  your  verdict  and  sentence  are  pro- 
nounced— die  as  an  escaping  prisoner  of  war  "  (he 
now  felt  certain  that  the  window  was  open,  as  he 
could  see  the  curtain  move).  "  You  have,  perhaps, 
done  what  you  considered  your  duty,  and  I  freely 
forgive  you  the  murder  which  you  are  about  to 
perpetrate  upon  me."  And  vdth  a  jump  he  was  at 
the  window,  dashed  the  curtain  one  side,  and  like  a 
flash  he  had  sprung  through.  He  had  rightly  con- 
cluded that  as  the  room  was  on  the  ground  floor, 
the  fall  on  the  outside  of  the  window  would  not  be 
more  than  two  or  three  feet,  and  would  not  delay 
him  one  second.  Now,  as  he  had  entered  the  camp 
bhndfolded,  and  his  own  room  had  no  windows,  he 
had  no  idea  of  the  position  of  anything,  or  what  di- 


54  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

rection  he  should  take ;  nor  did  he  care.  He  had 
not  a  thought  of  escape.  His  only  idea  was  to 
plunge  rapidly  forward  in  any  direction,  and  so 
draw  the  fire  of  the  guard  upon  him,  and  end  his 
life,  for,  whatever  might  happen,  he  would  not  be 
taken  alive.  Landing  uj^on  his  feet  outside  the 
building,  he  was  off  like  the  wind  toward  the  first 
opening  that  caught  liis  eye  ;  fifty  yards  are  passed 
like  a  locomotive,  and  before  a  shot  was  fired ;  ten 
more  the  same  way,  and  his  eye  began  to  take  in 
something  of  the  suiTOundings.  Heavens!  were 
not  these  soldiers  scattered  here  and  there  all 
clothed  in  Union  blue?  Yes,  but  what  of  that? 
They  might  have  captured  a  quartermaster's  train 
somewhere  filled  with  clothing,  and  their  own  be- 
ing worn  out,  had  put  these  on.  Twenty  yards 
more,  and  still  not  a  shot ;  he  passed  close  to  where 
several  soldiers  stood  with  guns  in  their  hands, 
and  they  never  raised  them  ;  what  did  it  all  mean  ? 
Ah!  there  must  be  a  high  wall,  or  deep  ditch 
around  the  camp,  over  which  they  knew  he  could 
not  pass,  and  they  were  mocking  at  his  attempt ! 
He  would  then  speedily  be  recaptured,  and  taken 
back  to  jail,  and  his  j^lan  had  failed !  But,  no,  he 
would  never  be  taken  alive.  The  first  soldier  who 
approached  him  he  would  knock  down  and  seize 
Ms  gim,  and  then  compel  the  next  soldier  to  shoot 
him   in    self-defence.     All  these  thoughts   passed 


TRIED  A8  A  SPY.  55 

like  lightning  through  his  mind,  and  now  he  was 
passing  two  officers,  who  were  evidently  laughing 
at  him.  Officers?  but  thej,  too,  were  in  Federal 
uniform!  What  did  it  all  mean?  Like  a  flash 
he  turned  and  looked  up  to  the  top  of  tlie  flag- 
staff ;  there  were  the  stars  and  stripes  floating  in 
the  breeze !  Was  he  going  crazy  ?  He  feared  so. 
An  officer  now  approached  with  a  smile,  and  held 
out  his  hand.  "Well,  Lieutenant  Lockwell,  you 
appear  confused.  Take  my  arm  and  we  will  walk 
back  to  the  colonel's  quarters,  where  you  will  find 
most  of  the  ofificers  of  your  regiment  waiting  to 
receive  you." 

"  Then  what — what,"  stammered  Lockwell,  "  does 
all  this  mean?  This  is  not,  it  cannot  be  all  a 
dream  ? " 

"  Oh,  no ;  not  at  all,  but  the  story  is  too  long 
and  amusing  for  you  to  hear  just  yet ;  come  first 
and  get  a  good  glass  of  grog."  At  headquarters, 
his  astonishment  was  in  no  way  lessened  by  seeing 
all  his  messmates,  who  came  forth  with  warm  greet, 
ings  to  welcome  him,  and  laughingly  congratulated 
him  on  his  narrow  escape  from  the  fate  of  a  spy. 
He  was  well-nigh  overcome  by  the  sudden  change 
from  hopelessness  to  perfect  safety;  nor  could  he 
form  the  sHghtest  idea  as  to  how  it  all  happened. 

Everything  appeared  to  him  to  be  "confusion 
worse  confounded."    But,  after  a  hearty  lunch,  and 


56  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

a  good  stiff  grog,  he  prepared    himself   to  listen 
to  all  particulars. 

It  appeared  that  immediately  after  leaving  his 
fatigue  party  on  the  preceding  day,  and  starting 
over  for  the  "  square  meal,"  the  officer  of  the  day 
rode  by,  and  finding  that  the  lieutenant  in  charge 
of  the  party  was  absent,  he  at  once  reported  the 
fact  to  his  regimental  commander,  together  with 
his  sui-mises  as  to  where,  and  for  what  he  had  gone, 
and,  as  it  happened,  he  guessed  exactly  right. 
Now,  the  Heutenant  was  a  favorite  with  the  colo- 
nel, and  he,  with  the  officer  of  the  day,  at  once  de- 
termined not  to  report  the  matter  up  any  higher, 
but  to  concoct  a  plan  whereby  they  would  suf- 
ficiently punish  the  delinquent,  and  at  the  same 
time  secure  some  amusement  for  themselves. 
Quickly  letting  haK  a  dozen  good  men  in  the  se- 
cret, they  sent  to  the  next  regiment  just  over  the 
hill,  the  quartermaster  of  which  they  knew  had 
in  his  possession  about  a  dozen  Confederate  uni- 
forms, including  four  or  five  officers'.  To  acquaint 
the  quartermaster  with  their  plans,  and  borrow 
these  uniforms  was  the  work  of  a  moment.  But 
here  a  difficulty  occurred  to  them ;  the  lieutenant 
was  acquainted  with  the  faces  of  all  the  men  in  the 
regiment,  and  would  surely  recognize  them. 
Therefore,  recourse  was  again  had  to  the  quarter- 
master for  advice,  and  as  the  regiment  to  which  the 


TRIED  AS  A  SPY.  57 

lieutenant  belonged  had  only  very  recently  been 
assigned  to  this  brigade,  it  was  thought  that  he  was 
not  much  acquainted  with  either  officers  or  men  in 
tlie  other  regiment,  so  it  was  determined  that  the 
quartermaster  should  take  five  or  six  men  from  his 
regiment  and,  dressed  in  the  Confederate  uniforms, 
undertake  to  carry  out  the  whole  programme. 
With  what  success  this  was  accomplished  the 
reader  already  knows.  The  quartermaster  took 
his  men  up  to  the  back  of  the  house,  previously, 
however,  having  sent  on  a  faithful  man  in  Federal 
uniform  to  acquaint  the  gentleman  of  „  the  house, 
who  was  a  sound  Union  man,  privately,  with  the 
whole  particulars,  so  that  he  would  be  prepared  to 
receive  and  admit  his  visitors  by  the  back  way,  and 
also  co-operate  with  them.  Everything  turned  out 
as  expected,  though  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
presence  of  mind  of  the  host  there  would  have 
been  a  tragic  termination  to  the  farce  when  they 
sjirung  their  trap  on  young  LockweU. 

After  the  capture  the  affair  could  no  longer  be 
kept  secret,  and  a  full  explanation  of  the  matter 
being  sent  to  the  brigadier-general  commanding, 
he  entered  heartily  into  the  spirit  of  the  arrange- 
ment, and  agreed  to  act  as  the  presiding  officer  at 
the  court-martial,  and  did  so. 

Various  bets  were  made  as  to  whether  Lieutenant 
Lockwell  would  accept  the  terms  proposed  in  order 


58  11^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

to  save  his  life.  IS^earlj  all  were  of  opinion  that 
the  temptation  would  be  too  strong  for  any  man 
when  he  came  to  consider  the  slight  importance 
of  the  revelation  he  was  required  to  make. 

The  general  offered  to  l)et  a  basket  of  cham- 
pagne he  would  make  him  yield.  And  the  colonel 
of  the  regiment  to  which  Lockwell  belonged 
promptly  accepted  the  bet,  hence  the  pertinacity 
with  which  the  general,  as  presiding  officer  of  the 
court-martial,  tried  to  induce  the  lieutenant  to  ac- 
cept the  conditions. 

It  was  with  no  httle  pride  of  his  officer  that  the 
colonel  afterward  drank  his  champagne.  And 
many  a  toast  was  offered  in  his  honor  by  his 
brother  officers.  A  few  days  afterward,  when  the 
whole  affair  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  general 
commanding  the  division,  he  sent  for  our  friend, 
and,  after  reprimanding  him  for  leaving  his  post  of 
duty,  said:  "But  the  punishment  which  you  re- 
ceived was,  at  least,  e<pial  to  the  offence  committed, 
and  I  can  only  add  that  your  conduct  under  those 
circumstances,  which  were  the  same  to  you  as  if 
they  were  real,  receives  my  most  heartfelt  admira- 
tion, and  I  am  very  proud  to  number  you  among 
the  officers  of  my  division."  Lockwell  received 
this  and  all  other  honors  with  his  accustomed 
modesty,  and  thus  ended  the  first  of  a  numerous 
series  of  adventures. 


TAKEN  SICK.  59 


CHAPTER  lY. 


TAKEN    SICK. 


The  next  event  in  the  life  of  Lieutenant  Lock- 
well  which,  we  have  been  able  'to  find  among  his 
mannscri^Dts,  appears  to  have  been  the  illness  which 
came  upon  him  a  few  months  after  the  little  epi- 
sode which  we  have  detailed  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter. His  regiment  had  been  removed  to  Aquia 
Creek,  Virginia.  And  here  his  fortune  was  to  be 
out  on  picket  in  tlie  most  exposed  positions,  and 
during  the  most  trying  weather.  To  be  saturated 
with  melted  snow  and  sleet  he  came  to  consider 
his  normal  condition,  and  as  he  would  never  ask 
to  be  excused  on  account,  of  ill-health,  if  he  was 
:ible  to  move  at  all,  he  got  more  than  his  share  of 
the  hardships  of  an  unusually  severe  campaign. 
Though  he  was  of  a  splendid  physical  formation, 
and  had  a  good  constitution,  he  could  not  always 
expect  to  bear  up  under  such  constant  exposure  to 
cold  and  wet,  with  rather  a  meagre  and  unpalatable 
diet.  After  an  unusually  severe  and  prolonged  pe- 
riod of  exposure,  he  was  taken  down  with  conges- 
tion of  the  lungs  and  typhoid  fever.     For  days  he 


60  JiV  SEARCH  O'F  GOLD. 

lay  in  his  tent  witli  few,  if  any,  comforts,  and  suf- 
fered patiently,  yet  with  an  intense  longing  for 
some  of  those  delicacies  not  obtamable  among 
soldiers  and  in  camp  hfe.  He  was  visited  by  the 
colonel  and  other  officers  of  the  regiment,  by 
whom  he  continued  to  be  most  higlily  esteemed. 

Even  during  the  physical  weakness  and  depres- 
sion incident  to  continued  illness  his  natural  humor 
would  constantly  manifest  itself  to  those  around 
him.  The  senior  lieutenant  of  his  company  was  a 
very  sedate,  solemn,  and  rather  melancholy  indi- 
vidual of  a  religious  turn  of  mind,  and  on  him  the 
sick  man  used  to  vent  his  latent  spirits,  and  some- 
times. It  is  to  be  feared,  he  sadly  shocked  his  sense 
of  propriety. 

One  instance :  While  our  friend  was  too  sick  to 
be  removed  to  the  hospital,  and  the  whole  regiment 
began  to  fear  they  should  lose  their  favorite  officer, 
the  other  lieutenant  visited  him  one  afternoon, 
when  the  following  dialogue  took  place  between 
them : 

"Well,  how  do  you  find  yourself  this  afternoon?" 

"  Oh,  about  the  same ;  I  do  not  see  any  change 
in  myseK,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  think  I  am  no 
worse;"  then  pausing  for  a  moment,  he  added, 
"  I  know  they  think  in  the  regiment  I  am  going  to 
die;  now,  what  do  you  think  about  it — do  you 
believe  I  am  going  to  '  kick  the  bucket  ? ' " 


TAKEN  SICK  61 

"  Oh,  I  hope  not,  Lockwell ;  you  have  a  very 
good  strong  constitution  and  I  am  in  hopes  yon 
will  come  out  all  right  yet." 

"Well,"  replied  the  invahd,  "I  will  tell  you 
what  I  will  do.  I  will  bet  you  one  dozen  bottles  of 
beer  that  I  will  be  dead  in  less  than  two  weeks !" 
The  horrified  senior  lieutenant  immediately  left,  to 
consult  with  the  chaplain  of  the  regiment  in  regard 
to  this  very  hard  case. 

The  next  day  the  colonel  called  upon  him  and 
after  a  very  pleasant  chat  said,  as  he  rose  to  leave, 
"  Would  you  not  like  me  to  send  the  chaplain  to 
converse  with  you  about  spiritual  matters  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  colonel,"  was  the  answer,  "  if  you 
think  I  can  do  him  any  good,  I  would  be  very  glad 
to  see  him." 

The  chaplain  did  not  come.  A  few  days  more 
and  he  is  removed  to  the  officers'  hospital  at 
G-eorgetown,  District  of  Columbia,  and  two  or 
three  weeks  of  good  treatment  there  rendered  him 
a  very  hopeful  convalescent. 

It  was  while  here,  with  little  to  occupy  his 
mind,  that  he  engaged  largely  in  polemical  con- 
troversies with  those  clergymen  who  frequently 
visited  the  hospital  to  teach  the  invalids  the  only 
true  way  to  be  saved.  As  they  each  taught  a 
different  way,  and  no  two  ways  were  at  all  similar, 
many  being  diametrically  opposite  to  others,  it  was 


62  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

ratlier  confusing  to  those  who  would  listen  im- 
partially to  all  of  them.  Even  had  his  own  fertile 
and  well-stored  mind  no  arguments  with  which  to 
attack  the  selfish  and  bigoted  theories  of  sectarians 
and  partisans,  he  would  only  have  to  rememher 
what  the  advocates  of  one  creed  had  to  say  about 
another  sect,  to  be  sufficiently  well  posted  to  keep 
up  his  side  of  the  argument.  Thus,  when  tlie 
Catholic  priest  would  prove  to  him  that  the  Epis- 
copal Church  was  founded  by  that  corrupt  mon- 
arch, Henry  the  Eightli,  and  for  the  very  reason 
that  the  Catholic  Church  was  too  pure  to  allow  such 
wickedness,  he  was  compelled  to  establish  a  church 
of  his  own  to  sustain  him  in  his  immorality,  he  was 
furnishing  arguments  to  be  used  against  the  Epis- 
copal clergyman  during  tlieir  next  little  debate. 
And  so,  if  he  chose,  he  could  remember  what  the 
Unitarian  minister  said,  to  use  it  against  the 
Presbyterian,  and  tlie  Baptist  against  the  Metliod- 
ist,  and  so  on.  lie  could  not  help  observing  tliat 
their  arguments  were  always  more  reasonable, 
logical,  and  generally  sound  when  demolishing 
other  creeds  then  when  trying  to  establish  their 
own,  and  now,  if  never  before,  he  realized  that 
there  was  far  more  to  be  said  against  any  specified 
religion  than  could  be  possibly  be  advanced  in  its 
favor,  whether  it  were  the  Catholic  or  any  of  the 
numerous  subdivisions  of  Protestantism  ?     "  What 


TAKEN  SICK.  63 

am  I  to  believe  in  regard  to  theology,"  said  he  one 
morning  to  one  of  these  teachers,  "with  so  many 
conflicting  ojDinions  in  regard  to  it?  I  have  been 
talking  earnestly  in  the  last  two  weeks  with  a 
Methodist,  a  CathoHc,  a  Unitarian,  and  a  BajDtist, 
and  now,  if  I  attempt  to  bring  my  mind  to  accept 
any  one  of  those  creeds,  I  have  the  arguments  of 
three  other  smarter  men  than  myself  against  it." 

"  But,"  replied  the  other,  "you  have  your  reason 
given  you  for  the  purpose  of  choosing,  and  you 
do  wrong  if  you  do  not  exercise  it." 

"But  so  have  these  other  four  men  as  much 
reason  given  to  them  as  I  have,  yet  they  have  all 
chosen  differently,  and  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case  only  one,  if  any,  can  be  correct,  and  the  other 
three  have  by  means  of  their  reason  chosen 
wrongly,  though  you  cannot  doubt  they  have 
sincerely  and  honestly  exercised  that  reason.  So 
they  might  better  have  had  no  reason  to  exercise, 
as  it  has  led  them  into  error.  Is  it  surprising,  then, 
that  most  of  us,  who  have  Hstened  to  the  argu- 
ments of  all  sides  without  fear  or  favor,  should 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  if  your  God  had  in- 
tended any  one  of  these  religions  to  be  accepted  by 
His  creatures,  he  would  have  made  it  so  clear  which 
one  that  no  two  honest  searchers  after  truth  could 
differ,  yet  you  will  admit  that  such  is  not  the 
case !" 


64  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

It  was  during  the  fourth  week  of  hospital  treat- 
ment that  word  came  that  the  whole  army  was  on 
the  move,  probably  the  long-talked-of  "On  to 
Richmond  "  movement. 

Though  still  very  feeble,  he  at  once  determined 
to  join  his  regiment,  if  it  was  a  possible  thing  to 
do.  On  making  his  application  for  a  discharge 
from  the  hospital,  the  physicians  in  charge  were 
very  reluctant  to  grant  him  permission  to  go  to  the 
front,  for  they  thought  he.  was  still  too  feeble  to 
travel  that  distance  in  the  rough  mamier  he  would 
be  compelled  to  adopt.  But  when  they  found  him 
determined  they  yielded,  and  he  started  for  the 
field  of  action. 

He  was  just  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  great 
battle  of  Chancellorville,  which  has  been  too  often 
described  by  abler  pens  than  mine  for  me  to  dwell 
on  those  events,  which  were  so  vividly  impressed 
upon  the  mind  of  our  friend  that  all  the  varied 
scenes  of  his  after-life  failed  to  dim  the  recollection 
of  them. 

He  arrived  upon  that  fatal  field  on  the  Friday 
evening  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle,  footsore  and 
wearied.  He  had  pushed  ahead,  regardless  of  his 
feeble  strength,  attracted  by  the  firing ;  and  when 
he  reached  the  trenches,  where  his  company  were 
busily  engaged  in  tlu'owing  up  earthworks,  using 
theii-  pewter  plates  in  lieu  of  spades,  of  which  they 


TAKEN  SICK  65 

had  few  or  none,  lie  sank  down  quite  exhausted, 
and  lay  at  the  bottom  of  the  ditch  an  hour  or  so, 
until  recovered,  and  then  joined  the  workers.  At 
the  end  of  that  disastrous  battle,  in  which  we  were 
out-generalled,  out-fought,  and  badly  beaten,  the 
order  to  retreat  was  given.  He  started  with  the 
others,  but  had  gone  but  a  very  short  distance 
when  he  realized  that  he  was  unable  to  keep  up 
with  the  troops.  Going  to  the  colonel  he  stated 
that  he  was  compelled  to  remain  behind  and  take 
his  chances  with  the  rebels,  not  having  strength 
enough  to  proceed  further.  But  the  colonel,  who 
generally  travelled  well  prepared  for  all  emer- 
gencies, now  took  a  canteen  from  his  shoulder,  that 
was  filled  with  good  brandy,  and  told  our  lieutenant 
to  drink  well  of  that  and  then  perhaps  he  could 
keep  up  with  them.  Seizing  the  canteen  our 
friend  imbibed  the  burning  fluid  as  though  all  his 
hopes  of  temporal  salvation  depended  upon  the 
amount  he  drank.  This  was  by  far  the  heaviest 
drink  of  spirits  he  ever  took,  either  before  or  after 
this  event,  and  he  fully  believed  it  kept  him  from 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  It  had  the  desired  effect ; 
he  thought  no  more  of  throwing  himself  upon  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  Confederates ;  he  was  able  to 
travel  through  the  mud  and  rain  of  that  memor- 
able retreat  as  fast  as  any  one. 

Cold,    hungry,    discouraged,    demoralized,    and 


66  IN  SEAEOH  OF  GOLD. 

terribly  scattered,  they  arrived  at  tlieir  old  camping- 
ground,  and  the  old  routine  of  camp  duties  was 
recommenced,  without  any  immediate  prospect  of 
being  agam  broken  up. 

Up  to  this  time  he  had  only  kept  the  original 
commission  with  which  he  had  started  cut,  but 
now  he  had  every  reason  to  think  that  ha  would 
soon  be  promoted  to  a  higher  position  ;  as  soon,  in 
fact,  as  there  should  occur  a  suitable  vacancy.  But 
before  any  such  opportunity  offered  he  received  a 
letter  from  his  wounded  brother,  then  staying  upon 
the  old  homestead,  saying  that  his  general  health 
was  good,  and  he  again  felt  strong  enough  to  re- 
enter the  service  and  renew  his  efforts  to  serve  his 
country;  but  that  his  arm  and  shoulder  were  still 
too  weak  to  permit  him  to  be  received  as  a  private, 
and  therefore  he  desired  our  lieutenant  to  assist 
him,  if  possible,  in  getting  a  commission  ;  at  once 
Lockwell  determined  that  his  brother  should  have 
his  own  place,  if  he  could  get  no  other  for  him. 

Some  correspondence  followed  between  the  two, 
by  which  he  learned  that  the  "  Pennsylvania 
Bucktails"  in  which  his  brother  had  served  had 
been  almost  annihilated,  and  tlie  few  that  were  left 
were  consolidated  with  other  and  strange  regiments, 
and  so  his  chances  there  of  obtaining  a  commission 
were  gone ;  more  especially  as  the  noble,  brave  and 
gallant  Colonel  Hugh  McNeil,  who  had  commanded 


TAKEN  SICK  67 

the  regiment,  was  among  tlie  slain.  TMs  infor- 
mation determined  our  friend  to  use  every  effort  to 
get  for  his  brother  the  position  that  he  himself 
held.  But  this  was  a  matter  it  was  going  to  be 
very  difficult  to  accomplish.  It  was  true  he  could 
resign,  but  he  could  have  no  voice  in  the  appoint- 
ment of  his  successor.  That  would  be  probably 
made  by  means  of  a  letter  from  the  colonel  of  the 
regiment  to  the  governor  of  the  State  Q^ew  York). 
But  the  colonel  was  not  willing  to  give  such  a 
letter,  the  brother  being  a  stranger  to  liim,  and, 
besides,  it  was  usual  to  make  such  appointments 
from  among  the  more  meritorious  of  the  subordi- 
nates. However,  after  great  delay,  he  got  the 
desired  letter  from  the  colonel,  but  the  delay  had 
brought  sus^^icion  to  his  mind  that  all  was  not  just 
right ;  in  fact,  he  felt  certain  that  the  colonel  was 
not  acting  fairly  by  him.  In  thinking  the  matter 
over  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  colonel  had 
issued  a  previous  letter  and  sent  it  to  the  governor 
recommending  a  certain  sergeant  for  this  place,  and 
that  he,  the  colonel,  suj^posed  the  commission 
would  be  already  issued  before  the  second  letter 
would  reach  the  governor  of  New  York,  and,  neces- 
sarily, the  second  letter  would  prove  useless.  He 
was  perfectly  correct  in  this  surmise.  The  colonel 
had  pursued  exactly  this  course,  and  supposed  he 
calculated  with  certainty  that  his  first  letter  would 


68  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

be  tlie  one  acted  upon,  more  especially  as  the 
lieutenant  would  have  to  stop  a  week  or  two  in 
"Washington,  to  settle  his  accounts  and  draw  his 
pay,  and  he  (the  colonel)  had  not  the  remotest  idea 
tliat  the  lieutenant  suspected  him  of  unfairness  or 
double  dealing.  Receiving  the  letter  at  last,  as  we 
have  said,  our  friend  (now  no  longer  a  lieutenant ; 
his  resignation  having  been  accepted,  he  received 
his  honorable  discharge  from  the  army),  lost  no 
time  in  starting  for  Washington,  and  on  the  way 
he  pondered  a  great  deal  upon  tlie  best  course  to 
pursue.  His  suspicions  of  the  colonel  were  only 
general ;  he  had  no  particular  action  to  base  them 
on,  and  sometimes  he  was  inclined  to  think  that  all 
was  straightforward,  as  it  ajipeared  to  be  on  tlie 
surface,  and  the  letter  he  held  would  procure  his 
brother's  commission  without  trouble  when  pre- 
sented, and,  if  so,  he  could  stop  in  Washington  and 
settle  his  own  affairs  and  then  go  to  Albany  and 
get  the  commission  for  his  brother.  But  no,  it 
would  not  do  to  take  those  risks  of  delay;  his 
brother  must  have  liis  commission  if  the  thing 
were  possible :  delays  are  dangerous.  Though 
short  of  funds,  his  pay  from  the  government 
being  in  arrears,  he  concluded  to  press  forward  at 
once  to  Albany  to  see  Governor  Seymour,  to  whom 
his  letter  was  addressed.  It  is  true  he  might  have 
forwarded  his  letter  to  his  brother,  who  was  then  in 


TAKEN  SICK  69 

New  York,  and  tlie  latter  could  have  presented  it 
in  person.     But  he  was  afraid  that  a  previous  letter 
might  then  be  in  the  hands  of  the  governor,  in 
which    case    the    brother,   not  understanding   the 
circumstances,  would  not  know  how  to   act.     So, 
without  stopping  for  a    moment  anywhere.  Lock- 
well  took  the  fastest  trains  on   the   railroad,  and 
telegraphed  his  brother   to  meet  him  in   Albany, 
where  they  both  arrived  on  the  same  day.     The 
meeting  between  the  brothers,  who  were  devotedly 
attached  to  each  other,  was  the  occasion  of  great 
joy  to  both  of  them ;  but  knowing  the  possible  im- 
portance of  time,  not  five  minutes  elapsed  before 
they  were   on  the  way  to   the  governor.     After 
introducing  themselves  they  handed  him  the  letter, 
and  he,  after  reading  it,  passed  it  to  his  adjutant 
with  orders  to  look  at  the  matter  at  once.     The 
governor  then  conversed  with  the  brothers   with 
that  kind  courtesy  of  manner  and  general  urbanity 
which  made  him  so  generally  hked  by  all  who  came 
in  contact  with  him,  of  whatever  political  creed. 
The  adjutant  soon  entered  with  a  report  that  stmck 
a   chill  of  disappointment  to    the  hearts  of  both 
brothers.      A  previous  letter   had  been  received 
from  the  colonel  recommending   Sergeant  Blank, 
and  his  commission  had  been  issued  to  him.     The 
brothers  stared  at  one  another  in  dismay;  the  hopes 
of  the  elder  of  re-entering  the  army  at  once  were 


70  JiV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

now  frustrated.  The  younger  had  resigned,  in- 
tending to  re-enlist  as  a  private,  for  the  Bake  of 
giving  his  position  to  his  brother,  and  all  had 
ended  in  disappointment.  Lockwell  inquired  when 
the  letter  from  the  regiment  had  been  received. 
The  adjutant  said  he  beheved  it  had  been  received 
some  tlu-ee  days  before,  but  had  not  been  acted 
upon  until  that  very  day. 

What  a  tantalizing  disappointment — only  part 
of  one  day  too  late.  "Governor,"  said  Lockwell, 
"  this  is  very  unfortunate.  I  knew  this  other  letter 
had  been  sent  you  by  the  colonel,  recommending 
Sergeant  Blank ;  but  afterward  he  had  good  reason 
to  wish  to  countermand  it,  and  accordingly  gave  me 
this  letter,  which  you  see  is  of  later  date,  and  in- 
tended to  supersede  the  other,  and  I  have  travelled 
post  haste,  at  great  inconvenience  to  myself,  in 
hopes  to  get  here  in  time  to  have  it  acted  upon. 
But  I  suppose  now  there  is  no  help  for  it." 

"]S"one,  whatever,"  replied  his  excellency;  "a 
commission  once  issued  cannot  well  be  revoked,  or 
the  position  vacated,  except  by  the  miHtary  authon- 
ties  of  the  United  States." 

Lockwell  asked,  "  How  long  ago  was  this  com- 
mission signed  ?"  The  adjutant  replied,  "  A  little 
more  than  an  hour  ago,  perhaps."  "One  hour 
only  !  are  you  sure  it  has  gone  to  the  post-office  ?" 
"les — or — I   think  so;   however,   I  will  go   and 


TAKEN  SICK.  71 

look,"  and  he  left  the  room.  A  moment  or  two  of 
silent  suspense  intervened;  then  the  adjutant  re- 
entered the  room  with  a  large  package  in  his  hand, 
and  addressed  the  governor :  "  The  mail  for  Wash- 
ington has  not  yet  gone,  your  Excellency.  The 
commission  these  gentlemen  speak  of  is  still  in  this 
package;  if  you  so  desire,  it  can  be  easily  taken 
out,  a  new  one  substituted,  and  the  necessary  cor- 
rections made  upon  the  records." 

This  was  indeed  joyful  news.  The  governor, 
upon  learning  that  the  person  before  him,  who  was 
the  one  mentioned  in  the  second  recommendation 
of  the  colonel,  had  served  in  the  celebrated  Buck- 
tail  regiment,  and  been  severely  wounded  at  Antie- 
tam,  readily  gave  his  consent  to  the  change,  and 
the  elder  brother  soon  had  his  commission  in  his 
pocket,  and  was  away  to  join  his  regiment  in  Vir- 
ginia. How  he  was  afterward  promoted  to  a 
captaincy,  placed  on  General  Geary's  staff,  and 
.fought  his  way  with  Sherman  in  the  celebrated 
'march  to  the  sea,  it  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  narra- 
tive to  recount. 

The  younger  brother  returned  to  the  old  farm  to 
recuperate  for  a  few  weeks  preparatory  to  entering 
the  army  again  as  a  private. 


72  IN  SEABCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  V. 


HE  RE-ENLISTS. 


A  FEW  weeks  vacation  were  sufficient  for  oiir 
hero  to  recover  liis  pliysical  strength,  and  to  make 
up  bis  mind  to  enlist  again  at  once.  Now,  lie  liked 
money  as  well  as  any  one,  or  rather,  we  should  say, 
he  liked  the  good  tilings  that  money  would  pro- 
cure, and  not  money  itself.  His  principal  vice  was 
extravagance ;  he  c«arried  generosity  to  a  fault.  He 
could  scarcely  see  a  street  beggar — especially  if  it 
was  a  woman — witliout  emptying  his  pockets  in  her 
behalf.  But  he  was  always  on  the  alert  to  make  or 
gain  money  when  he  could  do  so.  This  time  he 
meant  to  enlist  where  they  were  paying  big  boun- 
ties, and  he  finally  determined  on  enlisting  at  New 
London,  Connecticut,  in  a  regiment  then  down  in 
Louisiana.  He  did  so,  and  was  sent  to  the  camp  of 
rendezvous  at  Fair  Haven,  Connecticut. 

Arrived  in  camp,  he  found  other  raw  recruits  to 
the  number  of  many  hundreds,  awaiting  transporta- 
tion to  their  respective  regiments.  This  was,  be- 
yond question,  the  worst  set  of  men  he  had  ever 
laid  eyes  on.     Thieves,  gamblers,  bounty- jumpers, 


HE  RE-ENLISTS.  73 

and  scallawags  of  all  kinds,  mixed  indiscriminately 
among  good  honest  men,  who  liad  enlisted  solely 
for  the  good  of  their  country.  But  what  proportion 
there  was  of  each  class  it  was  impossible  to  tell. 
But  it  seemed  to  be  pretty  certain  that  the  worse 
far  outnumbered  the  better  class.  Immense  bar- 
racks were  surrounded  by  a  yard,  which  was  en- 
closed by  an  eight-foot  fence,  with  a  row  of  shiu^p 
spikes  running  along  the  top,  and  a  plank  walk 
near  the  top  running  along  on  the  outside,  where 
sentries  promenaded  and  kept  constant  watch  upon 
the  recruits  who  were  inside.  Escape  for  the  pro- 
fessional bounty-jumpers  seemed  impossible,  yet 
desperate  efforts  were  made  for  freedom,  some- 
times, by  these  individuals,  which  often  resulted  in 
the  death  of  one  or  more  of  those  engaged  in  the 
fearful  attempt. 

Into  these  barracks  was  private  Lockwell 
brought,  and  thrust  without  ceremony  among  crea- 
tures revolting  to  his  refined  and  sensitive  nature. 
He  had  about  one  thousand  dollars  with  him,  most 
of  which  he  had  carefully  placed  in  the  watch- 
pocket  of  his  pantaloons,  and  kept  only  some  ten  or 
twelve  dollars  in  his  pocketbook,  which  he  carried 
in  the  breast  pocket  of  his  blouse. 

The  day  after  his  arrival  he  bought  some  things 
at  the  sutler's  to  eat — the  camp  fare  was  so  poor, 
or  his  taste  was  so  fastidious,  he  could  not  get  along 


74  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

with  it — and  of  course  was  compelled  to  show  his 
pocketbook  with  some  money  in  it.  The  result  of 
this  exposure  was  made  manifest  that  very  night. 
He  occupied  a  middle  berth  of  a  centre  tier,  and 
had  been  lying  down  perhaps  two  hours,  but  was 
only  partly  asleep,  when  he  felt  some  one  gently 
unbuttoning  his  blouse  (he  slept  in  all  his  clothes) 
to  get  at  his  pocketbook ;  as  he  had  his  back  to  the 
alleyway  in  which  the  thief  must  be  standing,  he 
could  not  get  a  sight  of  him.  As  he  wanted  vcr}? 
much  to  see  him,  he  thought  if  he  yawned  and 
turned  his  head  slowly  the  fellow  would  not  make 
off  so  quickly  but  that  he  might  see  him.  So  he 
stretched  himself,  and  turned  over  a  little  :  the 
chap  dodged  back  a  few  steps,  but  not  till  Lockwell 
got  a  good  view  of  him ;  but  after  waiting  a  few 
minutes  the  fellow  made  off.  Conjecturing  that 
the  thief  would  return  as  soon  as  he  supposed  Lock- 
well  would  be  again  fast  asleep,  the  latter  placed 
himself  in  a  good  position  for  action,  rebuttoned 
his  blouse,  closed  his  eyes,  and  awaited  events.  An 
hour  passed,  and  he  had  almost  got  asleep  in  reality 
when  he  felt  his  person  touched  again;  but  this 
time  the  operations  were  a  little  different :  instead 
of  unbuttoning  his  blouse,  a  sharp  knife  was  used 
to  cut  through  it,  directly  over  the  pocketbook. 
This  compHcated  matters  somewhat.  He  was 
afraid  if  he  grabbed  the  thief  as  he  had  intended 


EE  RE-ENLISTS.  75 

he  would  be  cut  by  the  knife,  yet  he  resolved  to 
risk  it.  The  very  dim  light  in  the  room  had  en- 
abled him  to  partially  open  his  eyes  and  get  a  good 
view  of  the  thief.  He  found  him  to  be  the  same 
fellow  who  had  made  the  previous  attempt,  and  he 
looked  him  well  over,  to  be  sure  that  he  could  rec- 
ognize him  again  on  the  morrow  in  case  he  failed 
to  secure  him  to-night.  Making  a  sudden  grab  he 
seized  the  chap  around  the  arm  which  was  slowly 
engaged  in  cutting  through  the  blouse,  and  at  the 
same  time  called  loudly  for  the  guard,  some  of 
whom  were  supposed  to  be  patrolling  through  each 
room.  The  scoundrel  jumped  back,  but  Lockwell 
still  held  on,  again  calling  loudly  for  assistance ; 
but,  lying  down  as  he  was,  he  was  at  a  great  disad- 
vantage, yet  he  maintained  his  grip  until  several 
persons  rashed  forward,  crying,  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter," and  at  the  same  time  taking  hold  of  the  man 
and  wrenching  him  out  of  Lockwell's  grasp,  when 
he  immediately  disappeared,  and  the  men  who  had 
come  forward  eagerly  asked  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. But  one  glance  at  them  enabled  our  friend  to 
take  in  the  situation  at  once :  they  were  undoubt- 
edly comrades  of  the  thief  who  had  come  to  his 
rescue,  though  they  pretended  all  the  innocence  in 
the  world. 

The  young  recruit  simply  told  them  he  guessed 
they  knew  well  enough  what  was  the  matter,  and 


76  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

now  lie  wanted  tliem  to  clear  out,  as  lie  desired  to 
go  to  sleep ;  they  went  off  grambling,  and  lie 
turned  over  and  went  to  sleep.  The  next  day  early 
he  looked  through  the  buikliug  till  he  found  his 
acquaintance  of  the  preceding  evening,  and,  getting 
one  of  the  guard,  he  caused  his  arrest ;  the  fellow 
pretended  to  be  very  indignant,  saying  that  he 
Imew  nothing  whatever  about  the  matter  Math 
wliich  he  was  charged,  and  demanded  of  the  officer 
of  the  guard  that  he  should  give  him  a  chance  to 
prove  his  innocence,  which  he  said  he  could  easily 
do.  This  being  only  reasonable,  an  immediate  ex- 
amination was  granted  him,  when,  to  the  utmost 
astonishment  of  Lockwell,  three  of  the  very  men 
who  had  closed  in  around  the  thief  on  the  preced- 
ing evening  and  wanted  to  know  what  was  the 
matter,  now  came  forward  and  testified  that  the 
accused  party  was  not  in  the  place  where  the  at- 
tempt was  made,  but  at  that  time,  and  before,  and 
for  long  afterward,  he  was  in  another  part  of  the 
building  playing  cards  with  them,  so  that  it  must 
evidently  be  a  case  of  mistaken  identity.  They 
further  testified  that  they  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  prisoner,  never  having  spoken  to  him  before, 
that  they  remembered,  but  he  had  joined  their 
game  about  an  hour  before  the  attempt  at  robbery, 
and  continued  playing  for  several  hours  after.  It 
was  useless  for  Lockwell  to  attempt  to  establish  his 


HE  BE-ENLIST8.  77 

accusation.  An  alibi  had  been  proven  by  the  testi- 
mony of  three  disinterested  parties,  and  the  pris- 
oner was  discharged. 

But  he  was  yet  to  see  stranger  sights.  The  thief 
and  his  witnesses  all  belonged  to  an  organized  gang 
of  thieves  and  gamblers,  whose  depredations  upon 
the  pockets  of  the  recruits,  nearly  all  of  whom 
came  in  with  large  sums  of  bounty  money,  became 
more  and  more  bold,  until  they  got  so  reckless  at 
last  as  to  walk  up  to  new  recruits  in  the  middle  of 
the  day,  and  would  take  every  cent  of  money  away 
from  them,  and  when  they  complained  the  thieves 
would  swear  each  other  clear,  and  this  was  done  re- 
peatedly. To  Lockwell,  whose  tastes  were  refined, 
and  whose  habits  were  neat,  life  among  these  be- 
ings was  almost  unbearable. 

He  went  to  the  commanding  officer  of  the  camp 
and  asked  him  how  long  he  would  have  to  remain 
there  before  he  would  be  sent  to  his  regiment.  But 
that  officer,  when  he  heard  that  he  belonged  to  a 
regiment  stationed  at  New  Orleans,  told  him  that 
recruits  came  in  very  slow  for  that  department,  so 
slow  in  fact  that  he  was  of  opinion  it  would  be  two 
or  three  months  before  they  had  enough  men  to 
make  a  sufficiently  large  squad  to  send  away.  This 
was  wi-etched  news  to  Lockwell,  for  he  had  hoped 
every  day  to  get  away  from  that  place,  and  now  to 
think  he  must  remain  here  for  some  months  was, 


78  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

indeed,  a  dismal  prospect.  He  felt  lie  must  get 
away  from  there.  But  how  ?  He  could  not  desert 
if  he  would ;  and  he  would  not  if  he  could,  so  that 
was  not  to  be  thought  of  for  a  moment.  He  pon- 
dered deep  and  long,  but  for  days  no  thought 
crossed  his  mind  whereby  escape  from  this  dreadful 
position  seemed  possible.  At  last  he  bethought 
himself  that  there  might  be  a  chance  to  get  a  com- 
mission in  a  colored  company.  He  wrote  to  the 
chief  of  Colored  Bureau  at  Washington  to  know 
what  course  was  necessary  to  pursue  in  order  to 
get  such  commission.  Tlie  reply  was  that  he  must 
be  examined  and  passed  by  Gen.  Casey's  Board, 
and  to  get  permission  to  go  before  that  board  lie 
must  forward  the  recommendations  of  responsible, 
well-known  parties — the  governor  of  the  State  he 
was  in,  if  possible.  Now,  he  did  not  know  a  soul 
in  the  whole  State  of  Connecticut  before  he  en- 
listed, and  it  looked  for  a  time  as  if  he  would  not 
be  able  to  procure  the  necessary  vouchers.  He  de- 
termined finally  to  write  a  plain  statement  of  the 
facts  to  the  governor,  whom,  by  the  way,  he  had 
never  seen,  and  state  clearly  the  whole  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  including  his  intense  desire  to 
go  before  General  Casey's  Board  for  examination, 
and  with  infinite  brass,  or  clieek,  he  politely  asked 
the  governor  to  recommend  him.  In  due  course 
the  governor  sent  his  regrets,  but  he  had  already 


HE  EE-ENLISTS.  79 

recommended  more  persons  to  tlie  board  than  were 
required  to  fill  the  official  positions  of  all  the  col- 
ored troops  raised  in  that  State,  and  was  sorry 
therefore  that  he  conld  not  comply,  etc.  Lockwell 
immediately  answered  the  letter,  in  effect  that  he 
did  not  believe  one  half  whom  he  had  distinguished 
by  his  recommendation  would  pass  the  board  ;  but, 
at  all  events,  he  thought  he  ought  to  have  an  even 
chance  with  them,  and  most  earnestly  and  emphat- 
ically repeated  the  request  of  the  former  letter. 

In  place  of  answering  this  letter  directly,  the 
governor  wrote  to  an  officer  stationed  at  the  camp, 
with  whom  he  was  personally  acquainted,  asking 
who  was  this  Lockwell  who  had  been  writing  to 
him  for  permission  to  go  before  the  examining 
board,  etc.  Yery  fortunately,  Lockwell  had  made 
a  slight  acquaintance  with  this  officer  in  the  camp, 
and  the  latter  brought  the  letter  to  him  to  see  as 
soon  as  received.  Lockwell  begged  him  to  leave 
the  letter  with  him  a  little  while  and  he  (Lockwell) 
would  write  an  answer,  and  the  officer  need  only 
copy  and  sign  it.  The  officer  laughed  at  that  idea, 
but  finally  consented,  with  the  reservation  that  he 
could  not  promise  to  copy  and  sign  till  he  first  saw 
it.  Then  Lockwell  went  to  work  with  all  his  mind 
to  describe  himseK  in  the  third  person  in  the  most 
complimentary  manner  as  a  well-behaved  young 
man,  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  whom  it 


80  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

was  a  pity  to  keep  shut  up  in  camp  when  he  would 
undoubtedly  do  honor  to  an  appointment  if  he 
could  get  it,  etc.,  etc.  Which  lengthy  and  self- 
laudatory  epistle  he  showed  to  the  officer,  and  then 
delivered  such  a  pathetic  argument  upon  his  patri- 
otic desire  to  go  where  he  could  do  some  good,  and 
expatiated  so  well  upon  his  present  woes,  that  he 
quite  won  the  heart  of  that  officer,  and  he  promised 
he  would  copy  the  letter  and  send  it  to  the  gover- 
nor, and  he  did.  The  next  in  order  was  a  letter 
from  the  governor,  which,  upon  opening,  proved, 
on  the  inside,  to  be  addressed  to  the  chief  of  Col- 
ored Bureau  at  Washington,  and  containing  the 
desired  recommendation.  This  was  quickly  for- 
warded, and  shortly  brought  back  an  order  from 
the  Secretary  of  War  to  permit  him  to  go  to  Wash- 
ington. 

All  his  energies  until  now  had  been  directed  to 
getting  before  the  board,  l)ut  now,  when  he  was 
about  to  start,  he  l)cgan  to  realize  that  the  difficul- 
ties were  not  all  over  yet.  He  might  not  pass  the 
board  satisfactorily.  There  were  so  many  appli- 
cants that  they  were  very  particular  in  the  exami- 
nation, desiring  to  reject  a  great  number  of  them. 
Then,  passing  the  board  successfully,  it  might  be  a 
very  long  time  before  he  would  be  commissioned ; 
but  he  was  never  one  to  borrow  or  anticipate 
trouble ;  with  him  "  sufficient  unto  the  day  was  the 


HE  RE-ENLISTS.  81 

evil  thereof,"  and  lie  rushed  ahead.  Before  the 
board,  he  was  examined  in  most  everything,  tactics 
first,  of  course;  mathematics,  history,  geography, 
and  general  information  followed.  On  reaching  the 
last  mentioned  they  asked  him  what  line  of  study 
he  preferred  to  follow.  He  replied,  theology. 
This  staggered  them.  The  member  who  had  until 
now  asked  all  the  questions,  here  said  he  would 
have  to  pass  the  examination  on  to  some  other 
member,  as  he  feared  he  was  a  little  weak  himself 
on  that  point.  On  this  subject  they  asked  him 
many  curious  questions,  but  at  that  time  he  was  so 
well  posted  upon  that  subject  that  they  failed  to 
puzzle  him  at  all.  He  passed  the  board  as  second 
lieutenant  and  was  sent  back  to  camp.  Shortly 
afterward  his  appointment  came,  when  he  was 
attached  and  detailed  on  service  at  the  camp. 


82  TN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  yi. 

LIFE    EN   THE    CONSCRIPT   CAMP. 

The  first  desire  in  the  heart  of  this  new-made 
officer  was  to  protect  those  innocent  new  recruits 
who  came  into  camp,  from  tlie  rapacious  chitches 
of  this  gang  of  thieves  and  gamblers,  who  still 
continued  their  plnnderinij:  without  any  hindrance 
whatever.  He  called  upon  the  commanding  officer 
of  the  camp,  and  represented  to  liim  what  iniqui- 
tous proceedings  were  being  constantly  carried  on 
within  the  ])arracks.  The  officer  replied  that  he 
knew  very  well  such  was  the  case,  but  he  did  not 
see  how  it  could  be  prevented,  the  thieves  always 
succeeding  in  clearing  one  another,  and  it  seemed 
almost  impossible  to  bring  them  to  justice.  Lock- 
well  explained  how  they  managed ;  stated  that  he 
had  observed  them  carefully ;  knew  most  of  them 
by  sight,  and  thought  he  would  be  able  to  remedy 
the  e^dl,  providing,  if  instead  of  changing  the  officer 
of  the  guard  every  day,  as  had  been  customary,  he 
could  retain  that  position  for  three  successive  days. 
This  arrangement  was  readily  made,  and  Lockwell 
began  acting  as  officer  of  the  guard.     During  the 


LIFE  IN  TEE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  83 

first  day  no  trouble  of  any  kind  was  reported.  But 
on  the  second  day  a  recruit,  a  new  arrival,  reported 
that  he  had  been  robbed  of  about  eight  hundred 
dollars  in  greenbacks,  right  in  the  middle  of  ths 
day,  and  in  about  the  centre  of  the  building.  One 
of  the  guard  was  sent  with  him  to  find  the  robber 
and  bring  him  to  the  guard-house,  which  was  done. 
But  the  chap  was  very  profuse  in  his  protestations 
of  innocence.  A  smile  of  pure  delight  broke  out 
upon  the  countenance  of  the  lieutenant  when  he 
looked  upon  the  man,  and  at  once  recognized  hira 
as  the  identical  individual  who  had  attempted  to  get 
his  (the  lieutenant's)  pocketbook  the  second  night 
he  had  slept  within  the  barracks,  though  the  lieu- 
tenant himself  was  not  recognized.  It  was  with  the 
keenest  pleasure  that  he  looked  upon  this  person  as 
his  prisoner,  and  when  the  latter  said,  as  usual, 
that  he  could  prove  his  innocence  by  several  disin- 
terested parties,  our  friend  told  him  to  bring  on  all 
the  mtnesses  he  could  find,  and  a  guard  was  ac- 
cordingly sent  with  him  to  hunt  them  up  and 
bring  them  in.  They  soon  returned  with  half  a 
dozen  of  the  regular  gang  of  thieves  as  witnesses. 
Lockwell  asked  the  prisoner  if  these  were  all  the 
men  who  could  testify  to  his  innocence,  "  for,"  said 
he,  "  these  matters  are  generally  proven  by  weight 
of  evidence,  and  I  believe  I  have  some  eight  or  ten 
witnesses  who  have  testimony  to  offer  against  you." 


84  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"If  that  is  the  case,"  replied  the  prisoner,  "I 
can  bring  others  still  who  will  prove  that  I  could 
not  have  been  guilty  of  the  crime  ^vith  which  I  am 
charged." 

"Then  the  guard  will  go  with  you  once  more, 
Ijut  this  time  bring  i.p  all  who  can  testify  in  your 
favor,  for  I  myself  will  be  looking  up  witnesses 
against  you."  The  ruse  was  successful ;  this  time 
the  prisoner  returned  with  the  entire  balance  of  the 
gang,  seven  in  number,  which,  with  the  former  six 
still  waiting  in  the  guard-liouse,  made  thirteen  of 
the  worst  specimens  of  humanity  that  coidd  l)e 
found  in  a  day's  search  anywhere:  professional 
thieves  and  gamblers  who  had  enlisted  with  the  ob- 
ject of  getting,  first,  the  big  bounty  then  given  in 
many  places,  and  next  to  win  by  gambling  (and  act- 
ing in  concert  they  always  won)  all  the  money  they 
could,  and  lastly  to  steal  all  they  could  not  other- 
wise appropriate.  But  they  were  so  uniformly  suc- 
cessful in  this  last  manner  of  operating,  and  so  cer- 
tain to  clear  each  other  by  perjured  testimony,  that 
they  came  very  generally  to  adopt  this  easier  and 
quicker  method  of  procedure. 

The  lieutenant  was  now  convinced  that  he  had 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  the  whole  gang  before  him. 
lie  conducted  them,  all  unsuspicious  of  the  fact 
that  their  long  and  perfectly  successful  career  of 
crime  had  at  last  collapsed,  into  the  guard-house. 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  Q^ 

He  knew  that  thej  were  desi^eradoes  of  tlie  most 
determined  class,  who  would  hesitate  at  nothing  if 
thej  thought  they  were  being  caught.  It  was,  in- 
deed, extremely  likely  they  would  make  a  united 
rush  for  the  gate,  knowing  that  one  or  two  of 
them  might,  and  probably  would,  get  killed,  but  the 
others  stood  some  chance  of  escaj^e.  Such  a  thing 
had  been  attempted  from  this  same  camp  several 
times  previously  by  bounty-jumpers,  but  always 
with  very  indifferent  success. 

At  one  time  fifteen  of  them  had  succeeded  in 
loosening  a  long  plank  from  the  rear  of  the  bar- 
racks, and  at  a  preconcerted  signal  they  all  made  a 
rush  for  this  plank,  and  jDlacing  it  against  the  top 
of  the  fence  they  went  over  it,  passed  the  guard 
and  into  the  open  fields  beyond,  where  they  scat- 
tered, no  two  keeping  together,  and  all  taking  dif- 
ferent directions,  so  as  to  distract  any  organized 
effort  at  pursuit,  which  they  knew  would  be  at  once 
instituted  by  the  reserve  guard.  Out  of  the  fifteen 
making  this  desperate  effort  for  freedom,  two  were 
shot  and  killed  by  the  nearest  guard,  while  passing 
the  fence.  Three  were  badly  wounded  and  taken 
in  the.  pursuit.  Four  others  were  captured,  and 
the  remaining  six  succeeded  in  escaping.  But  the 
gang  now  in  the  guard-house  had  no  thoughts  of 
danger  to  themselves,  and  they  were  in  the  best  of 
spirits.     To  prevent  all  chances  of  trouble  and  dis- 


80  IN  SEAliCn  OF  GOLD. 

tiu'bance  tliey  were  told  that,  in  order  to  prevent 
tliem  from  following  eacli  other's  testimony,  if  they 
were  so  disposed,  they  wonld  be  taken  singly  into 
another  room  and  examined  separately.  As  they 
had  already  agreed  among  themselves  just  what 
they  should  swear  to,  this  arrangement  did  not 
trouble  them  in  the  least,  and  they  regarded  each 
other  with  knowing  smiles.  As  each  was  passed 
into  another  room  he  was  immediately  seized  by 
t\\Q;  guard,  heavily  ironed,  and  led  out  by  another 
door.  When  they  were  all  thus  disposed  of,  and 
brouglit  again  before  the  lieutenant,  they  were 
nearly  crazed  witli  rage  and  disappointment.  Deep, 
and  even  loud  were  the  imprecations  called  down 
upon  the  head  of  that  officer,  as  he  stood  before 
them  with  folded  arms  regarding  them  mth  a 
scornful  smile. 

"Oh!  you  can  do  your  worst  now,"  they  ex- 
clHinied,  "but  the  war  will  be  over  some  day,  and 
then,  you  may  rest  assured,  we  will  meet  you 
again  if  we  have  to  hunt  over  the  whole  earth  to 
find  you,  and  then  we  will  get  more  than  even 
with  you.  We  won't  leave  a  whole  bone  in  your 
body.     You  don't  know  who  you  are  dealing  with." 

"Well,  gentlemen,"  replied  the  object  of  their 
wrath,  "  if  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  your  acquaint- 
ance I  will  have  ample  opportunities  to  remedy 
my  misfortune  in  that  resj)ect  before  you  leave  this 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  87 

guard-house,  but  I  know  some  of  you  better  than 
you  think,  for  that  man,"  indicating  the  first  pris- 
oner, "was  the  man  who  twice  in  one  night  at- 
tempted to  rob  me  when  I  was  a  new  recruit  in  the 
])arracks.  You,  and  you,  and  you,"  pointing  out 
three  more,  "were  among  those  who  rescued  the 
thief  when  I  held  him.  I  have  hved  among  you 
long  enough  to  know  each  one  of  you,  and  you  all 
constitute  a  regularly  organized  gang  of  thieves, 
who  have  long  and  openly  preyed  upon  these  re- 
cruits. You  had  studied  the  question  up  thorough- 
ly, and  enlisted  for  those  regiments  which  the  fewest 
recruits  came  for.  In  this  way  your  chance  of  re- 
maining in  the  camp  a  long  time  before  being  sent 
to  the  front  was  good,  and  you  had  fully  made  up 
your  minds  to  attempt  an  escape  before  being  sent 
away.  You  had  confederates  outside  of  this  camp 
who  visited  it  regularly  to  receive  the  accumu- 
lations of  your  ill-gotten  gains.  I  only  wish 
there  was  some  means  of  getting  that  money  back 
and  returning  it  to  the  poor,  honest  recruits,  who 
have  been  the  sufferers  at  your  hands,  but  that,  I 
fear,  is  impossible.  As  to  your  meeting  me  again 
hereafter,  my  friends,  it  must  be  in  the  immediate 
future,  that  is  to  say,  in  this  world,  for,  judging 
from  your  present  conduct  and  your  general  charac- 
ter, I  shall  be  disappointed  in  whatever  hopes  I  may 
have  entertained  of  meeting  you  in  a  future  Hfe. 


88  m  SEARCH  OF  CWLD. 

I  have  only  to  add  that  you  will  be  kept  securely 
confined  until  you  are  forwarded  to  your  respective 
regiments.  The  information  which  may  be  neces- 
sary to  judge  of  your  general  characters  will  also 
be  sent  with  each  of  your  descriptive  lists,  to  en- 
able your  commanding  oJBficers  to  know  how  to 
treat  you.  Here  you  vAW  be  compelled  to  labor 
at  such  work  as  we  may  find  for  you  to  do  aromid 
tlie  camp.  And  now  the  good  discijiUne  of  this 
camp  compels  me  to  add  that  any  more  such  pro- 
fane language  as  you  have  just  indulged  in  will 
put  me  to  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  tying  the 
one  who  utters  it  up  to  a  tree  for  a  few  hours." 

This  speech  had  a  very  chilling  effect  upon  most 
of  the  gang.  But  one  of  their  number  was  still 
furious,  and  indulged  in  such  an  incessant  stream 
of  oaths  that  a  gag  was  placed  in  his  mouth,  and 
he  was  then  tied  up  by  his  tliumbs  till  he  signified 
his  intention  of  obeying  orders,  when  he  was  taken 
down  and  placed  with  his  companions,  as  meek  and 
humble  as  could  be  wished. 

After  this  there  was  little  to  vary  the  dull 
monotony  of  routine  duties  for  some  weeks.  The 
camp  became  almost  wholly  free  from  complaints 
of  robbery  after  the  arrest  of  the  baker's  dozen 
who  had  been  the  scourge  of  the  barracks.  These 
gentlemen  were  well  employed  with  ball  and  chain 
in  doing  all  the  heavy  and  dirty  work  around  the 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  89 

camp,  and  at  night  they  were  confined  in  the  guard- 
honse. 

About  four  weeks  after  the  arrest  of  this  party, 
and  while  a  squad  was  about  to  be  made  up  to  send 
away,  when  most  of  them  would  be  sent  to  their 
regiments,  one  of  their  number,  who  was  by  far  the 
most  respectable  of  the  party,  having  behaved  him- 
self in  such  a  manner  as  to  win  the  confidence  to 
some  extent  of  the  officers,  found  an  opportunity  to 
approach  Lockwell,  unperceived  by  his  companions, 
and  while  that  oflicer  was  again  in  charge  of  the 
guard,  and  to  tell  him  in  a  low  voice  that  if  he 
would  give  him  an  opportunity  he  would  communi- 
cate something  of  importance;  and  then  quickly 
slipped  away.  Taking  the  hint,  Lockwell  soon 
after  approached  the  men  while  working  clearino- 
up  the  ground,  and  ordered  this  man  in  a  rouo-h 
voice  to  "Take  that  wheelbarrow  and  go  around 
behind  that  building  and  remove  a  pile  of  dirt 
which  you  will  find  there."  The  mau  obeyed,  and 
Lockwell,  soon  after  passing  through  the  building, 
found  the  man,  as  he  had  expected,  waiting  for 
him. 

"  Well,  my  man,"  said  he,  "  what  have  you  to 
communicate  to  me  of  such  importance  ?" 

The  man,  who  was  evidently  in  a  state  of  great 
fear,  answered,  "  Oh,  lieutenant,  for  mercy's  sake 
^on't  let  those  men  see  you  talking  with  me  or  they 


90  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

will  suspect  that  I  am  betrajdug  tliem  and  they  will 
kill  me  sure.     But  won't  you  find  some  w^ay  that  I 
can  tell  you  without  their  suspecting  it  ?     They  are 
preparing  a  way  to  escape  and  w^ll  succeed  surely  if 
they  arc   not   prevented.      This  way  will   not  be 
ready  for  two  days  yet ;  so  if  this  evening  or  to- 
morrow you  can  find  a  way  for  me  to  comnnmicate 
with  you  it  will  l)e  time  enough  ;  and  now  I  beg  of 
you  to  let  me  go,  for  they  Avill  be  sure  to  suspect 
otherwise,  and  tlien   my  life  will  not  be  worth   a 
minute's  pm-chase."     The  lieutenant  mused  a  mo- 
ment, then  told  him  to  go  back  and  resume  his 
work  with    the   others,   and   about   half-past  five 
o'clock — that  is,  about  half  an  hour  before  the  men 
quit  their  work  and  were  taken  to  the  guard-house — 
he  (the  lieutenant)  would  be  passing  near  them  and 
would  order  this  man  to  aIo  some  little  job  or  otlier, 
when  the  latter  was  to  reply  in  an  impudent  man- 
ner, and  he  gave  him  the  words  of  a  saucy  reply 
which  he  was  to  make,  and  the  lieutenant  would 
then  at  once  order  him  to  be  taken  to  the  rear  of 
the  building  and  be  tied  up  to  a  tree  as  punishment, 
and  he  would  have  it  understood  by  the  guard  that 
he  was  not  to  be  tied  up  so  tight  as  to  hurt  him,  and 
immediately  afterward  the   others  would  be  sent 
back  to  the  guard-house,  supposing  that  their  com- 
rade was  being  severely  punished,  and  then  the  lieu- 
tenant would  visit  him  and  hear  what  he  had  to  say. 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  91 

The  particulars  of  the  revelation  that  the  man  had 
to  make  were,  that  the  gang,  after  being  shut  up  in 
the  guard-house  nights,  had  contrived  to  remove  a 
board  from  the  floor,  and  with  patience  and  indus- 
try had  dug,  first  perpendicularly  down  about  six 
feet,  and  then  laterally  along  about  ten  feet,  which 
was  the  distance  the  guard-house  was  situated  from 
the  outside  fence  ;  and  they  were  now  at  work  very 
nearly  under  the  fence.  As  the  prisoners  were 
rarely  disturbed  after  being  locked  up  at  night  they 
had  had  good  opportunities  to  carry  on  their  work 
to  success,  which  they  would  -undoubtedly  have 
achieved  but  for  the  timely  betrayal  by  this  one  of 
their  immber. 

After  getting  all  the  particulars  of  the  affair,  and 
being  satisfied  of  the  truth  of  the  report,  the  be- 
trayer was  sent  back  to  the  guard-house,  as  though 
nothing  had  happened.  He  was  offered  the  free- 
dom of  the  camp  as  a  reward  for  his  faithfulness  (?), 
but  such  was  his  dread  of  the  vengeance  of  his 
comrades  that  he  desired  to  be  treated  just  as  usual. 
He  promised  also  to  keep  the  lieutenant  posted  in 
regard  to  the  progress  of  the  work.  The  next  day, 
when  the  prisoners  were  all  out  at  work,  an  exami- 
nation was  had,  which  fully  confirmed  the  story  of 
the  man  on  the  preceding  evening. 

It  astonished  the  beliolders  to  see  the  amount  of 
work  which  had  been  accomplished  with  tin  plates 


92  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

and  case-knives  alone.  Every  particle  of  dirt  had 
to  be  excavated  witli  these  knives,  which  were  given 
tlieni  to  use  with  their  victuals,  and  then  carried 
backward  on  tin  plates  (the  men  moving  on  their 
stomachs,  for  they  only  made  the  hole  large  enough 
to  cra\vl  through,  and  only  one  could  work  at  a 
time)  to  the  pit,  and  there  handed  it  to  some  one  at 
the  top,  who  would  receive  it  and  carefully  pack  it 
away  under  tlie  floor.  After  they  began  working 
on  the  tunnel  the  one  man  who  was  at  work  always 
had  a  string  tied  to  his  leg  and  reaching  back  to  one 
of  the  others,  who  was  always  on  watch  to  see  if 
one  of  the  guard  or  an  officer  was  coming  that  way, 
in  which  case  the  string  was  pulled  violently,  the 
man  hurried  out,  and  the  board  was  replaced,  hid- 
ing all  evidence  of  anything  unusual  going  on,  and 
all  the  prisoners  were  in  their  accustomed  places. 
Ko  wonder  the  one  who  turned  traitor  was  in 
fear  of  his  life  if  they  should  ever  discover  that  he 
liad  informed  on  them,  and  so  rendered  all  their 
immense  labor  abortive.  The  reason  for  his  course 
was  probably  revenge.  He  had  had  some  hard 
words  with  the  others,  and  at  one  time  they  had 
even  come  to  blows,  and  he  swore  to  be  revenged. 
Possibly,  also,  he  was  not  sanguine  of  final  success, 
and  thought  he  could  do  better  to  betray  everything 
before  it  should  be  discovered.  He  knew  he  would 
be  rewarded  in  some  way  and  so  would  be  gainer. 


LIFE  IN  TEE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  93 

The  mncli-talked-of  "honor  among  thieves"  only 
exists  when  it  is  a  matter  of  policy. 

This  man  afterward  had  the  freedom  of  the  camp 
given  him,  was  not  forwarded  to  the  army  in  irons, 
as  were  the  rest.  Of  course  he  took  advantage  of 
this  immunity  to  desert  on  the  road. 

When  the  gang  returned  to  the  guard-house 
there  was  nothing  to  be  seen  to  indicate  that  their 
intentions  had  been  discovered.  It  had  been  re- 
marked in  the  last  few  days  how  well  behaved  the 
prisoners  were,  and  hopes  were  expressed  by  the 
chaplain  that  they  were  reforming.  All  sullenness 
and  impudence  had  ceased.  The  men  worked 
cheerfully  and  obeyed  all  orders  with  alacrity.  But, 
alas,  it  was  no  moral  reformation.  Just  as  the 
young  wife,  when -about  to  elope  with  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  or  the  French  count,  always  shows  more 
ardent  affection  for  her  husband,  so  these  rascals 
were  the  best-behaved  prisoners  when  just  about  to 
break  jail. 

The  commanding  officer  of  the  camp  decided, 
with  the  advice  of  the  heutenant,  to  let  things  jDro- 
gress  until  the  following  night,  when  the  prisoners 
were  to  break  through  the  ground  on  the  outside 
of  the  fence,  about  midnight,  providing  it  was  a 
dark  night,  which  was  fully  expected,  as  there  was 
no  moon  ;  and  then  it  was  determined  to  watch  on 
the  spot  where  they  must  come  up,  and  catch  the 


04  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

first  fellow  who  should  show  his  head  cabove  ground, 
and  the  whole  arrangement  was  again  given  to  our 
lieutenant.  "Wliile  the  prisoners  were  out  on  the 
ensuing  day  a  careful  survey  and  measurement  had 
heen  made  of  the  works,  and  the  exact  spot  where 
they  must  come  up  was  marked. 

The  eventful  night  for  the  prisoners  arrived.  To- 
night their  liopes  of  freedom  must  meet  with  frui- 
tion or  he  changed  to  despair. 

The  night  was  proi)itious.  As  our  hero  expressed 
it,  "  The  heavens  were  as  black  as  the  ace  of 
spades." 

The  hearts  of  the  prisoners  beat  high  with  hope. 

By  putting  the  ear  close  to  the  ground  the  steady 
work  of  the  men  in  the  tunnel  could  ])e  heard  only 
a  few  inches  from  the  sui-face.  Tlie  guard  sur- 
i-ounded  the  hole  that  was  to  be,  and  the  lieutenant, 
with  a  revolver,  the  first  chamber  of  which  was 
k)aded  with  powder  only,  Imt  no  bullet,  sat  on  the 
ground  within  six  inches  of  the  spot,  and  could  dis- 
tinctly feel  the  slight  jar  of  the  earth  as  the  final 
dirt  was  being  removed.  At  half-past  twelve  a 
small  hole  was  made.  The  lieutenant  oonld  jnst 
distinguish  this  by  the  sound,  and  by  putting  his 
face  close  to  the  hole  he  could  make  out  the  foim  of 
a  hand  occasionally  protniding  through.  The  man 
at  first  worked  with  extreme  caution,  carrying  back 
the  earth  every  few  minutes,  and  listening  at  the 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  95 

hole  for  tlie  slightest  sound.  If  one  of  the  gnard 
had  coughed  or  sneezed  it  would  have  betrayed 
their  presence.  But  nothing  of  that  nature  hap- 
pened, and  the  workman,  being  apparently  satisfied 
of  his  complete  isolation,  and  having  the  hole  now 
some  larger,  ventured  to  thi'ow  the  dirt  out  that 
way.  This  facilitated  his  operations  very  much.  A 
minute  more  and  the  hole  was  large  enough  to  per- 
mit a  man  to  squeeze  through.  Another  moment 
and  the  head  and  shoulders  of  a  man  were  seen  to 
rise  up  through  the  earth  by  the  lieutenant,  who 
himself  was  lying  flat  down,  and  had  a  black  mask 
upon  his  face,  which  was  within  a  foot  of  the  man 
as  he  came  up.  Another  instant  and  the  full  light 
of  a  dark  lantern,  which  he  held  in  readiness,  was 
flashed  by  the  officer  upon  the  man,  and  almost  si- 
multaneously the  report  from  his  revolver,  which 
was  discharged  so  close  to  his  face  as  to  blacken  his 
ear,  rang  out  on  the  stilly  night.  In  describing  the 
very  brief  scene  which  ensued  our  hero  says  in  his 
MSS.:  "  I  have  often  seen  by  the  2>apers  that  the 
Western  Union  time-ball  dropped  eleven  twenty- 
sevenths  of  a  second  slow,  but  I  will  guarantee  that 
man  was  not  eleven  thousandths  of  a  second  slow 
in  dropping  back  into  that  hole."  And  he  dropped 
directly  on  the  head  of  the  next  man  who  was  fol- 
lowing him,  and  which  caused  that  one  to  give  a 
most  awful  yell  of  pain  and  terror,  and  this  added 


96  JiV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

still  more  to  the  f riglit  of  the  first  man,  who  fully 
believed  he  had  been  wounded,  and  that  unless  he 
quickly  retreated  under  cover  of  the  tunnel  which 
terminated  in  the  outside  hole  he  would  surely  be 
killed  by  the  next  shot,  which  he  thought  would  be 
fired  down  the  hole.  But  as  the  limited  size  of  the 
outside  hole  did  not  give  him  room  to  turn  over  he 
had  to  go  back  feet  first,  and  the  next  man  who  was 
following  hi  111  already  blocked  up  the  tunnel,  and 
could  not  crawl  backward  quite  as  easily  as  a  crab. 
Then  the  man  in  the  liole  outside,  in  desiderate  fear 
of  a  second  shot,  tried  to  work  his  body  back  so 
fast  that  he  kept  violently  kicking  the  next  man  in 
the  head,  who  swore  awfully,  and  pressed  the  next 
man  behind  him,  who  in  turn  was  impeding  his 
progress,  or  rather  retrogression,  and  he,  in  turn, 
passed  the  same  treatment  to  the  others  behind, 
till  the  curses,  oaths,  and  yells  of  bitter  disa]> 
pointment  resembled  a  pandemonium.  The  scene, 
or  rather  the  sound,  was  so  ludicrous  as  to  excite 
the  laughter  of  the  lieutenant,  who  ordered  the 
hole  to  be  filled  with  stones  and  dii't,  then  retired 
to  his  quarters. 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCBIPT  CAMP.  97 


CHAPTER  YIL 

LIFE  rsr  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP. — (Continued.) 

Again  an  interval  of  quiet  for  some  days.  But 
the  class  of  recruits  now  enlisting  were  mostly  in- 
duced to  volunteer  by  the  large  bounties  paid  by 
many  townships,  and  were  composed,  with  many 
noble,  honorable  excej^tions,  of  scallawags  and 
scoundrels,  who,  enlisting  only  for  the  bounty,  were 
determined  to  run  away  before  going  to  the  field. 
The  camp  at  this  time  was  nearly  full  of  these  men, 
and  guards  were  doubled,  and  extra  precautions 
taken  to  keep  the  men  from  deserting.  One  day 
Lieutenant  Lockwell  noticed  a  great  many  men 
scattered  through  the  camp  who  wore  white  hand- 
kerchiefs around  their  necks.  And  he  further  no- 
ticed that  they  generally  recognized  one  another 
when  passing  near.  This  excited  his  susi3icion  that 
some  plan  was  being  concocted  by  these  fellows  to 
promote  their  escape,  and  he  determined  to  watch 
them  carefully.  Some  days  more  went  by,  and 
the  number  of  those  who  wore  white  handkerchiefs 
rapidly  increased.  Fearing  that,  if  left  alone,  they 
would  increase  to  such  an  extent  as  to  make  any  at- 


98  JZV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

tempt  they  miglit  make  to  escape  very  formidable, 
lie  communicated  liis  susj^icions  to  tlie  commanding 
officer,  wlio  at  tirst  was  disposed  to  make  very  light 
of  the  matter,  thinking  that  previous  attempts  had 
been  so  very  unsuccessful,  that  fact  would  deter 
others  from  attempting  the  same.  But  when  the 
lieutenant  argued  with  him  that  previous  attempts 
had  been  unsuccessful  simply  because  of  the  small 
numbers  engaged,  and  that  there  would  be  no  more 
killed  out  of  a  large  squad  than  a  small  one  making 
the  attempt,  and  that  the  men  were  fully  aware  of 
this,  he  took  the  alarm  and  gave  our  friend  full  au- 
thority to  investigate  and  act  as  he  might  think 
best.  The  first  thing  Lockwell  did  was  to  go 
through  the  camp  and  ascertain  liow  many  there 
were  who  wore  white  handkerchiefs,  and  ascertain 
exactly  how  they  wore  them.  He  found  that  tliere 
were  nearly  fifty  wearing  this  sign,  and,  further- 
more, that  they  all  wore  them  with  the  knot  under 
the  left  eai".  Making  sure  of  these  facts,  he  also 
noticed  that  the  frequent  private  conferences  of 
these  handkerchief  gentry,  whenever  three  or  four 
were  gathered  together,  were  invariably  dispersed 
upon  the  arrival  of  an  officer  in  the  vicinity,  which 
would  not  have  been  the  case  had  the  subject  of 
their  conversation  been  legal.  From  many  little 
sisnis  he  concluded  tliere  was  no  time  to  lose  if  ef- 
fectual  measures  were  to  be  taken  to  prevent  the 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  CAMP.  99 

success  of  tlieir  plan,  whatever  it  was,  for  that  it 
was  of  the  nature  of  an  escape  he  never  for  a  mo- 
ment doubted. 

Picking  out  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  tlie 
new  recruits,  one  who  appeared  to  be  superior  in 
every  way  to  most  of  them,  he  revealed  to  him  all 
his  suspicions  and  desired  his  help  to  go  among  the 
men  with  white  handkerchiefs  and  ascertain  the 
facts.  He  instructed  him  to  tie  a  white  handker- 
chief around  his  neck  with  the  knot  under  the  left 
ear,  just  as  the  others  had  theirs.  Then  he  gave 
him  full  directions  how  to  act,  and  added  that  he 
must  be  sure  not  to  allow  any  of  them  to  shake 
hands  with  him,  as  they  undoubtedly  had  secret 
grips,  signs,  or  tokens,  and  his  failure  to  give  the 
proper  ones  would  betray  him. 

The  young  man,  who  was  a  youth  of  quick  per- 
ceptions, entered  heartily  into  the  plan.  Leaving 
the  barracks,  equipped  in  the  regular  regalia,  he 
sauntered  among  the  others  similarly  rigged,  and, 
watching  his  opportunity,  he  cautiously  spoke  to 
one  of  them,  saying  in  a  whisper : 

"Do  you  know  I  sometimes  am  afraid  this  ar- 
rangement of  ours  will  fail  after  all  ?" 

"Why  should  it  fail?"  quickly  responded  the 
other ;  "  I  see  no  reason  for  thinkmg  so." 

"Well,"  said  the  spy,  "I  don't  think  there  are 
enough  of  us  engaged  in  it  to  secure  success." 


100  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"Not  enongli ?  Why,  yon  know  up  to  last  even- 
ing there  were  fifty-tliree  of  ns  altogether.  That 
onglit  to  be  enough  as  against  any  means  they  liave 
got  here  for  stopping  us." 

"But  how  do  you  like  our  leader?" 

"Like  him  if  AVTiy  of  course  I  like  liim,  don't 
youf 

"Well,  I  thought  we  might  have  chosen  another 
better  fitted  to  conduct  this  enterprise." 

"A  better  man  than  Latham  ?  I  don't  know  who 
you  mean,  I  am  sure."  Now  this  was  one  of  the 
principal  things  he  was  to  try  to  ascertain — the 
name  of  their  leader;  it  was  Latham.  Tlie  next 
tiling  to  find  out  was  just  when  they  were  going  to 
make  their  attempt,  so  he  resumed :  "  Well,  per- 
haps Latham  is  as  good  as  any  one,  I  (hjn't  know. 
But  I  think  we  ouglit  to  delay  a  little  longer  be- 
fore the  final  attempt." 

"Why  in  the  world  should  we  put  it  off  again  ? 

When  it  was  postponed  from  last  Friday  till 

but,  I  say,  look  here,  give  me  your  hand,"  he  ex- 
claimed, a  fla.sh  of  suspicion  evidently  crossing  the 
speaker's  mind  that  all  was  not  right,  and  stopped 
him  just  as  he  was  about  to  reveal  what  the  other 
most  desired  to  know,  the  time  set  for  the  escape. 
To  give  his  hand,  knowing  none  of  their  secret 
grips,  would  be  to  betray  the  fact  that  he  was  a  spy 
upon  them.     So,  with  ready  tact,  he  said,  "  Hush ! 


LIFE  IN  THE  GONSGBIPT  CAMP.  101 

I  see  an  officer  looking  this  way ;  we  had  better  sejD- 
arate,"  and  walked  quietly  awaj.  But  as  there  was 
no  officer  in  sight,  this  only  added  to  the  aroused 
suspicions  of  the  other,  who  now  was  very  fearful 
that  he  had  betrayed  secrets  to  one  of  the  uniniti- 
ated. The  spy  in  the  meantime  reported  what  in- 
formation he  had  acquired  to  Lieutenant  Lockwell, 
who  concluded  the  best  course  to  pursue  was  to 
bring  matters  to  a  climax  at  once.  Delay  might  be 
dangerous.  Who  knew  but  the  very  next  day  was 
set  apart  for  the  attempt  ?  Looking  over  the  roster 
of  the  recruits  he  found  two  Lathams,  but  observ- 
ing them  both,  he  saw  that  one  only  wore  the  hand- 
kerchief. This  was  undoubtedly  the  man.  Seeing 
that  all  the  extra  guard  were  in  readiness,  and  every 
man  prepared  for  an  emergency,  he,  with  two  or 
three  of  the  guard,  arrested  Latham  and  took  him 
to  the  guard-house.  This  act  caused  great  conster- 
nation among  the  knights  of  the  white  handker- 
chief, many  of  whom  urged  an  immediate  precipi- 
tation of  all  their  force  upon  the  guard-house,  the 
rescue  of  their  leader,  and  the  immediate  execution 
of  their  long-cherished  scheme  for  liberty,  by  rush- 
ing through  the  gate,  bearing  down  the  guard  by 
force  of  numbers,  and  gaining  the  outer  world. 
Tliis  plan  was  undoubtedly  their  best  one,  and  was 
the  one  which  Lockwell  very  much  feared  they 
would  adopt,  and  if  they  had  done  so  they  stood  a 


102  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

very  good  cliance  to  succeed,  as  the  guard  were  very 
limited  in  numbers  and  very  inefficient  in  disci- 
pline. But,  fortunately,  a  large  number  of  these  fel- 
lows believed  that  their  leader  had  been  arrested  for 
some  trivial  offence  not  connected  with  their  great 
plot,  and  their  true  policy  was  to  await  his  discharge 
l)efore  making  any  movement.  Thus  their  different 
views  of  the  situation  ke^jt  them  from  agreeing 
upon  any  course  of  action.  In  the  meanwhile 
every  species  of  threat  or  promise  had  alike  failed 
to  induce  Latham  to  confess  the  particulars  of  the 
])lot.  But  Lockwell  determined  to  act  just  as 
though  he  had  confessed  everything,  believing  that 
he  already  knew  enough  about  it  to  make  the  oth- 
ers think  that  their  leader  had  confessed.  He  di- 
rected an  orderly  to  call  all  the  recruits  together — 
there  were  then  between  six  and  seven  hundred  in 
cam^i — and  going  out,  he  thus  addressed  them : 

"  I  have  called  you  all  together,  though  I  wish 
more  particularly  to  speak  to  you  gentlemen  with 
white  handkerchiefs  around  your  necks.  I  trust 
you  will  not  be  offended  with  me  if  I  advise  you 
when  you  organize  your  next  plot  to  assassinate  the 
loyal  soldiers  who  are  doing  their  duty  to  their 
government,  as  guard  in  this  camp,  in  order  that 
you  may  desert  from  the  army  with  your  worthless 
lives  and  carry  them  elsewhere  to  prey  upon  peo- 
ple— to  select  for  your  leader  one  who  will  not  be- 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCBIPT  CAMP.  103 

tray  you  as  soon  as  lie  himseK  is  arrested  "  (a  voice 
iu  the  crowd :  "  It  is  a  lie ;  lie  lias  not  betrayed 
us"),  "  and  you  men  can  now  take  off  those  white 
handkerchiefs  or  continue  to  wear  them,  as  you 
jilease.  I  have  the  names  of  each  and  every  one 
of  you,  taken  from  the  lists,  and  I  give  you  notice 
that  you  will  be  most  thoroughly  watched,  and  at 
the  first  suspicious  movement  you  make  you  will 
be  sweeping  up  these  grounds  with  a  ball  and  chain 
to  your  leg.  Finally,  having  just  come  from  your 
leader,  I  have  the  honor  to  add  that  the  great  plot 
for  your  escape,  which  was  to  have  taken  place  last 
Friday  afternoon,  but  was  postponed,  is  now  again 
postponed,  this  time  sine  die.  Gentlemen,  accept 
my  thanks  for  your  kind  attention,  and  allow  me  to 
bid  you  adieu." 

He  had  scarcely  finished  speaking  when  one 
man,  who  had  been  gradually  working  his  way 
through  the  crowd,  and  now  stood  directly  in  front 
of  him,  cried  out :  "  Comrades,  now  is  our  time  to 
act.  If  we  are  betrayed  we  will  never  have  an- 
other chance  like  the  present  to  pass  out  yon  gate. 
Follow  me  all  you  who  wish  to  escape  from  this 

place.       As    to    this    lieutenant,    who    has 

thwarted  so  many  of  these  attempts,  he  will  never 
interfere  with  another."  Saying  which,  he  quickly 
drew  a  revolver  which  was  hidden  under  his  coat, 
already  cocked,  and  before   the   lieutenant  could 


104  nf  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

make  a  motion  toward  one  of  tlic  two  revolvers 
which  he  always  carried,  he  had  discharged  it  di- 
rectly at  him.  The  man  was  so  near  at  the  time  of 
firing  that  the  ball  certainly  would  not  have  missed 
its  mark,  but,  at  the  instant  of  firing,  the  arm  of 
the  assassin  was  thrown  up  ])y  someone  bcliind, 
and  the  ball,  instead  of  passing  through  tlie  heart, 
passed  through  the  hat  of  the  officer,  and  in  much 
less  time  than  it  takes  to  relate  it,  the  lieutenant 
had  drawn,  cocked,  and  fired  his  revolver  straight 
at  his  assailant.  The  ball  passed  through  the  body 
of  the  latter,  and  he  fell  a  cor2:)se  at  the  feet  of  the 
young  man  who  had  undoubtedly  been  the  means 
of  saving  the  ofiicer's  life,  and  who  proved  to  be 
the  same  young  man  that  had  acted  as  a  spy  upon 
their  actions.  This  young  man  had  noticed  the  as- 
sassin when  he  was  striving  to  get  close  to  the  ofii- 
cer,  and  judging  from  his  conduct  and  his  looks 
together  that  he  meditated  mischief,  had  closely  fol- 
lowed, and  stood  directly  behind  him  when  the  re- 
volver was  drawn,  and  so  was  able  to  knock  up  the 
arm  just  in  time  to  save  the  life  of  Lieutenant 
Lockwell.  The  attempt  upon  the  life  of  our  friend 
aroused  all  the  latent  fire  of  his  nature,  and  stand- 
ing there  with  a  cocked  revolver  in  each  hand,  and 
his  eyes  ablaze,  he  cried  in  a  stentorian  voice  to  the 
dozen  or  fifteen  who  had  started  to  join  the  dead 
man  in  his  desperate  attempt  to  incite  the  others : 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRIPT  GAMP.  105 

"  He  called  uj)ou  you  to  foUow  him,  and  there  he 
lies.  Now,  follow  him,  will  you  ?  There  are 
eleven  chambers  still  loaded  in  these  revolvers,  and 
eleven  more  of  you  will  surely  follow  him  if  you 
make  the  slightest  motion  toward  insubordination. 
If  there  is  a  class  of  men  whom  I,  hold  in  supreme 
contempt,  and  whose  lives  I  do  not  consider  worth 
the  powder  it  takes  to  kill  them,  it  is  those  who 
have  accepted  the  pay  and  bounty  of  the  govern- 
ment and  now  seek  to  leave  her  service  by  deser- 
tion. You  worthless,  contemptible,  cowardly  ruf- 
fians, I  would  have  no  compunctions  of  conscience 
in  mowing  you  down  like  sheej)  if  you  make  a 
movement  that  I  consider  at  all  suspicious.  If 
there  are  any  more  assassins  in  yom*  ranks,  whether 
two  or  twenty,  now  is  their  time  to  come  on,  for  I 
am  all  alone." 

But  no  one  accepted  the  invitation.  The  sight 
of  their  comrade,  still  lying  in  his  heart's  blood, 
and  knowing  their  leader  was  a  prisoner,  and  the 
bold  and  fearless  action  of  Lieutenant  Lockwell  all 
combined  to  discourage  them,  and  they  gradually 
dispersed,  and  took  off  their  handkerchiefs  as  they 
went. 

Thus  ended  the  last  attempt  to  break  loose  from 
that  camp  with  which  our  fi'iend  was  connected. 

He  presently  acknowledged  his  gratitude  to  the 
soldier  who  had  saved  his  life,  whose  name  was 


106  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Train.     And  then  and  there  began  a  deep  and  last- 
ing friendship  between  them. 

Everything  continuing  quiet  for  some  weeks,  our 
friend  had  an  opportunity  to  cultivate  the  ac<|uaint- 
ance  of  the  young  ladies  of  New  Haven,  of  whose 
society  he  was  extremely  fond.  If  it  did  not  sound 
Hke  a  solecism  we  should  say,  if  he  had  a  weakness, 
it  was  his  strong  love  for  the  ladies,  or,  at  leiist,  he 
always  appeared  to  derive  great  gratification  in 
making  love  to  them,  and  when  remonstrated  with 
because  he  was  making  and  professing  the  most  de- 
voted and  ardent  love  to  half  a  dozen  different 
young  ladies,  he  would  reply  that  it  did  not  do  him 
any  hurt,  and  it  did  them  a  great  deal  of  good. 
Young  ladies  liked  better  than  anything  else  to  be 
made  love  to,  and  he  did  not  see  wliy  lie  should 
not  gratify  them.  But  in  all  this  he  was  never 
guilty  of  any  mean  or  dishonorable  action.  lie 
never  made  any  promise  of  marriage.  If  he  had 
done  so,  such  was  his  conscientious  sense  of  honor 
that  nothing  would  have  induced  him  to  break  the 
engagement,  although  at  this  time  he  had  an  un- 
conquerable dislike  to  the  bonds  of  matrimony. 
He  never  made  love  to  a  lady  without  first  convinc- 
ing her,  by  an  ingeniously  contrived  narrative,  that 
it  was  wholly  impossible  he  could  ever  marry  her. 
And  while  he  was  a  great  votary  at  the  shrine  of 
pleasure,  he  woidd   sooner  have  cut  off  his  right 


LIFE  IN  THE  CONSCRirT  GAMP.  107 

hand  than  have  brought  any  girl,  no  matter  how- 
lowly  or  humble,  any  injury. 

There  is  no  event  in  his  career  worth  recounting 
from  this  time  on  until  a  few  months  afterward, 
when  he  was  ordered  to  join  his  regiment  at  the 
front. 

On  his  way  from  New  Haven  to  Virginia  he 
stopped  a  day  in  New  York,  and  taking  the  few 
hundred  dollars  he  had,  he  embarked  it  all  in  AVall 
Street,  thinking  to  astonish  the  financial  magnates 
by  the  speed  with  w^liich  he  would  acquire  a  for- 
tune, but  in  place  of  that  he  astonished  himself  by 
the  speed  with  which  he  lost  all  he  had.  Then  he 
passed  on,  musingly,  to  join  his  regiment. 

A  service  of  a  few  uneventful  months  ensued, 
then  he  was  discharged  for  disability  (chronic 
catarrh),  and  retired  to  private  life. 

And  now  we  find  him  living  in  New  York  city, 
debating  with  himself  w^here  he  shall  go,  and  what 
he  shall  do. 

But,  in  the  meantime,  following  his  favorite 
pastime  of  making  love  to  the  fair  sex  indiscrimi- 
nately, and  constantly  falling  at  the  feet  of  beauty. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

COMMITS  BnCIDE. 

Among  liis  intimate  friends  residing  in  tlic  city 
of  New  York  were  two  married  ladies  for  whom 
Le  entertained  the  strongest  possible  friendshij) 
consistent  with  pnrely  Tlatonic  principles,  though 
perhaps  all  the  speeches  that  he  was  accustomed  to 
deliver  while  sitting  at  their  feet  would  not  have 
]>een  unreservedly  endorsed  l»y  that  ancient  philos- 
opher of  rigid  i)rinciples.  He  never  could  deter- 
mine which  of  them  he  loved  best ;  the  one  he  was 
with  for  the  time  being  always  apjjeared  to  him 
to  be  the  superior  angel  of  the  two.  In  fact  he 
"  could  always  be  happy  with  either  were  t'other 
dear  chaniier  away." 

As  their  intimacy  increased  so  did  their  friend- 
ship grow  apace,  and  none  of  them  being  of  that 
straight-laced  pharasaical  sect  of  moralists  who 
think  that  a  married  woman  should  never  look  at  a 
single  man,  they  enjoyed  each  othei^'s  society  ;  that 
is,  the  ladies  each,  in  their  turn,  received  his  visits 
and  all  his  protestations  of  undying  love.  But  the 
ladies  themselves  were  only  slightly  acquainted  one 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  109 

with  another.  When  he  told  one  of  them  that  he 
never  for  a  moment  could  be  happy  away  from  her 
society,  she  believed  him  fully,  and  he  thought 
at  the  time  that  it  was  true,  or  at  least  but  very 
little  exaggerated,  and  when  virtually  the  same 
speech  was  made  next  day  to  the  other,  it  was  de- 
livered with  like  sincerity  and  received  with  the 
same  faith.  This  was  enjoyed  hngely  by  all  three 
of  the  parties  concerned,  and  was  continued  for 
weeks,  but  as  the  best  of  friends  must  part,  so  the 
time  came  when  our  hero  determined  to  seek  in  the 
far  West  for  fun,  fame,  and  gold. 

This  determination  was  an'ived  at  reluctantly, 
but  from  financial  necessity.  Money  was  again 
running  short,  and  he  must  soon  commence  his 
"  struggles  for  hash,"  as  he  was  wont  to  exjiress  the 
idea  of  earning  his  daily  bread ;  and  the  freedom 
with  which  he  expended  his  last  cent,  on  many 
occasions,  rendered  the  expression  often  very  ap-' 
propriate. 

Before  going  away  he  determined  to  impress  the 
truth  of  his  devoted  love  toward  each  of  the  above 
lady  friends  in  such  a  manner  as  would  convince 
each  one  separately,  and  unknown  to  the  other,  of 
his  deep  attachment.  "With  this  determination  he 
remained  pacing  the  floor  of  his  bachelor  rooms  till 
late  at  night  concocting  the  following  tragical 
plans : 


110  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

His  clothes  were  to  be  found  upon  the  bank  of 
some  stream  or  pond  of  water,  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  suggest  the  idea  of  suicide,  and  in  the  clothes 
was  to  be  left  a  letter  which  would  confirm  that 
idea  of  suicide,  and  also  convey  to  each  one  of  the 
above  mentioned  ladies  the  conviction  that  it  was 
liis  hopeless  love  for  her  alone  which  caused  liim  to 
commit  the  rash  act,  and  this  letter  must  be  worded 
in  such  a  way  as  not  to  suggest  to  either  one  the 
least  suspicion  that  it  could  in  any  way  refer  to  the 
other,  for,  although  they  were  but  sliglitly  ac- 
quainted, yet  they  occasionally  met  in  society,  and 
each  also  knew  that  the  other  was  an  acquaintance 
of  Lockwell ;  and  there  might  be  also  just  the  least 
trifle  of  jealousy  existing  between  them. 

As  the  time  approached  for  putting  his  designs 
into  execution,  the  visits  of  Lockwell  at  the  re- 
spective homes  of  his  channel's  became  more  and 
more  constant.  He  gradually  became  sad  and  even 
gloomy.  Some  deep  grief  seemed  to  have  taken 
complete  possession  of  him.  He  would  sit  for 
many  minutes  gazing  upon  the  one  he  was  visiting 
with  looks  of  unutterable  love  and  deep  despair, 
and  wlien  the  fair  eyes  were  raised  to  his  he  would 
look  down  in  deep  dejection  and  heave  a  sigh  tliat 
told  of  unutterable  anguish  of  the  heart  within. 
When  questioned  as  to  the  cause  of  such  deep  de- 
pression of  spirits  he  would  evade  a  direct  reply  or 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  Ill 

perhaps  just  hint  at  his  devouring  love,  which  a 
most  cruel  fate  had  decreed  could  never  be  re- 
quited. He  had  long  talked  of  going  West,  and 
now  when  asked  by  one  of  them  if  he  expected 
soon  to  go,  he  would  reply  vaguely  that  he  might 
soon  go  West  or — yes,  he  might  take  a  much 
longer  journey ;  then  he  would  break  out  passion- 
ately that  lie  did  not  care  when  or  where  he  went ; 
then  he  would  rise,  seize  his  hat  and  hastily  depart, 
and  going  by  a  circuitous  route  to  the  residence  of 
the  other  adored  one  would  repeat  the  scene  almost 
verbatim.  This  course  was  kept  up,  with  suitable 
variations  and  appropriate  intermissions,  until  both 
ladies  became  somewhat  alarmed  about  him. 

Meanwhile  he  had  been  looking  up  a  suitable 
place  for  the  tragedy  and  composing  the  final 
letter  which  was  to  be  left  in  his  clothes  upon  the 
bank  of  the  lake  which  he  had  selected  for  the 
deed. 

Writing  the  names  of  each  of  the  ladies  fully 
and  carefully  many  times,  then  comparing  them, 
he  found  that  by  using  the  usual  pet  name  of  the 
first  one  with  the  middle  and  Jast  name  in  full ; 
then  taking  the  full  first  name  of  the  second  one, 
with  only  the  initial  letter  of  the  middle  name, 
with  her  last  name  in  full,  and  both  names  would 
thus  contain  exactly  the  same  number  of  letters, 
viz.,  seventeen. 


112  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Writing  tliem  in  tliis  manner  plainly,  each  on  a 
card,  lie  started  out  to  pay  the  final  visits. 

With  all  the  gloom  of  despair  on  his  counte- 
nance he  entered  the  presence  of  the  first  one, 
who  rose  and  received  him  with  all  the  warmth  of 
pure  affection  untarnished  by  an  unfaithful  thought 
toward  her  own  husband  and  family.  He  replied 
to  her  questions  in  such  an  absent  way  that  she 
looked  at  him  in  surprise,  and  finally  asked  him, 
"  What  is  the  matter  with  you  to-day  ?  are  you  not 
feeling  well  ?" 

"  Matter  ?  Feeling  well  ?  Oh,  yes.  Oh,  I  don't 
know,"  he  replied  very  slowly  and  absently,  then 
added,  "  But  do  you  know  I  have  come  to  bid  you 
good  bye !" 

"Indeed,  are  you  then  going  away  so  soon? 
But  where  are  you  going  V 

"  Ah,  indeed,"  verj'  absent-mindedly,  "  would 
that  I  could  tell  where  I  shall  be  this  time  to- 
morrow." 

"  Why,  are  you  not  going  West  ?"  said  she  in 
some  surprise. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  as  if  suddenly  recalling  himself,  "  I  am 
going  West,  of  course ;  what  am  I  talking  about  I 
Do  you  know,"  he  added,  after  a  long  pause, 
"  what  number  I  would  choose — well,  say  if  I  were 
going  to  buy  a  ticket  in  a  lottery  'i  or  rather,"  said 
he  with  deep  earnestness,  "do  you  know  what 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  113 

number  would  be  found  engraven  upon  rnj  heart 
if  it  could  be  seen  ?" 

"Why,  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  as  to  what 
you  mean." 

"  This,  then,  is  the  number,  seventeen,  and  this 
is  why  that  number  is  engraven  upon  my  heart," 
and  he  handed  her  the  card  on  which  her  na^ne  was 
written,  as  before  described,  so  as  to  make  seven- 
teen letters,  and  after  the  name  were  the  figures  17. 

"  Count  the  letters  in  that  name,  as  I  have  done 
a  thousand  times,  yes,  a  million  in  the  last  few 
months"  (it  was  only  the  day  before  that  he  had 
made  the  discovery  that  the  name  could  be  written 
with  seventeen  letters),  "  and,"  he  added  excitedly, 
"  you  have  seen  me  wear  this  plain  gold  ring  for 
months,  have  you  not,  but  did  you  ever  see  the 
inside  of  it  ?  but  I  think  you  have  not.  When  I 
bought  that  ring  the  jeweller  asked  me  if  I  wished 
my  initials  placed  upon  the  inside.  I  told  him  no, 
but  that  he  could  place  the  figures  IT  there,  and 
he  did  so,"  with  that  he  passed  the  ring  to  her  for 
examination. 

But  at  the  same  instant  he  trembled  as  the 
thought  occurred  to  him  that  as  those  figures  had 
only  been  placed  there  half  an  hour  before,  they 
might  have  a  new  appearance  which  she  would 
detect,  the  ring  itself  being  old  and  worn.  She 
did  not,  however,  but  passed  the  ring  back  to  him 


114  I]^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

\Aritli  a  deci")  Mush  at  tliis  new  evidence  of  his  in- 
tense affection  for  her. 

"But,"  he  exclaimed,  grasping  her  hand,  "I 
must  go  now;  to  stay  one  moment  more  would 
unman  me.  Wliatcver  may  happen  in  the  next  few 
hours,  think  kindly  of  me,  and  if  people  from  the 
other  world  are  allowed  to  revisit  this,  rest  assured 
that  I  will  always  he  with  you,"  saying  which  he 
again  wrung  her  hand,  and  pressing  a  kiss  u]^on  her 
brow,  nished  from  the  room. 

A  few  hours  later  a  similar  pcene  was  enacted  in 
an  almost  precisely  similar  manner  M-ith  the  other 
dear  lady  friend. 

ITaving  left  each  of  them  \vith  the  finn  con- 
viction that  she  alone  was  the  lady  for  wliom  he 
was  almost  crazed  with  love,  and  that  seventeen 
was  considered  hy  him  a  sacred  number,  because 
that  was  the  number  of  letters  tliat  constituted  her 
name,  he  proceeded  to  tlic  completion  of  those 
preparations  which  were  necessary  to  finish  the 
programme,  the  final  catastrophy  of  which  was  to 
come  off  that  night.  He  had  selected  a  large  lake 
a  few  hours  ride  from  New  York,  which  was  very 
deep,  and  some  dozen  miles  long  by  about  two 
broad,  and  as  he  had  repeatedly  visited  this  place, 
he  knew  just  where  a  small  skiff  was  kept  that 
would  answer  his  purpose. 

Arranging  all  his  little  affairs  in  such  a  manner 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  115 

as  to  give  the  impression  that  he  expected  to  leave 
permanently,  he  awaited  the  coming  of  night. 

Immediately  after  dark  he  took  a  train  for  the 
nearest  station  to  this  lake.  On  the  way  he  pur- 
posely talked  with  the  conductor  in  rather  a  wild 
and  incoherent  manner.  Arriving  at  the  station  he 
was  particular  to  attract  attention  from  the  men 
who  belonged  there,  and  asked  the  nearest  route  to 
the  lake,  although  he  knew  it  perfectly.  At  his 
previous  visit  to  the  lake  he  had  gone  by  another 
route  and  taken  a  carpet  bag  containing  a  suit  of 
clothes  and  all  the  linen  he  intended  to  take  West, 
and  this  carpet  bag  he  had  hidden  in  the  nearest 
bushes,  which  were  but  a  few  rods  from  the 
Ijorders  of  the  lake.  After  recei\ang  his  directions 
from  the  people  at  the  station,  and  while  they  were 
still  looking  at  him,  he  started  for  the  water,  and 
was  quickly  lost  in  the  darkness  of  the  night. 
Some  of  the  people  at  the  station,  thought  he  ought 
to  be  followed,  but  as  what  is  everybody's  business 
appears  to  be  nobody's  business,  he  was  left  to 
follow  his  own  course  unmolested. 

Arriving  at  the  place  where  he  left  his  valise  he 
found  it  all  right,  and  going  thence  to  where  the 
boat  was  fastened  he  cut  the  fastenings  and  2:>laced 
the  oars  in  position  ;  then  taking  off  all  his  clothes 
he  left  them  in  a  pile  upon  the  beach  and  got  into 
the  boat  in  a  perfectly  nude  state. 


116  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

He  had  left  liis  valise  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
up  the  shore  from  where  he  was  to  start  out  with 
the  boat,  so  that  he  would  not  in  any  case  have  to 
return  to  that  part  of  the  shore. 

The  night  was  quite  dark,  and  everything  was 
propitious.  Kowing  out  about  one  third  of  a  mile 
from  land,  he  stopped,  raised  up,  and  placing  his 
foot  on  the  side  of  the  skiff,  jumped  high  in  the 
air,  coming  down  with  a  splash  that  must  have 
been  heard  on  shore  if  any  one  were  listening. 
Quickly  coming  to  the  surface  he  struck  out 
swiftly  and  very  silently  for  that  part  of  the  shore 
where  he  had  left  his  valise.  As  he  was  a  very 
expert  swimmer  he  was  soon  upon  the  shore  once 
more,  and  but  a  few  rods  from  his  valise,  from 
which  he  took  his  clothes  and  was  soon  on  the  road 
toward  a  more  distant  railroad  station,  and  on  an- 
other route. 

Before  morning  ho  was  back  in  the  city,  and  just 
after  daylight  was  again  on  his  way,  this  time  for 
the  far  West. 

He  was  extremely  curious  to  know  what  would 
be  thought  of  the  affair  by  the  public,  and  more 
especially  by  the  two  fair  ones  for  whose  especial 
benefit  the  whole  thing  had  been  performed. 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  at  his  destination,  which 
■was  in  Minnesota,  he  awaited  with  extreme  im- 
patience the  arrival  of  the   mail  of  the  succeeding 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  Ill 

day,  which  would  bring  the  New  York  papers,  con- 
taining, as  he  rightly  conjectured,  an  account  of 
the  affair.  Hastily  glancing  over  the  papers  he 
was  not  disappointed,  as  the  following  account 
copied  from  the  Mew  York  Daily  Press  will 
show: 

SUICIDE!  DROWNED  IN  LAKE  BLANK! 

Love   and    Despair   bring    a    vert    Respectable    and 
Worthy  Young  Man  to  take  his  own  Life. 

A  SAD  OCCURRENCE. 
As  Mr.  Silas  Brown,  a  well-known  citizen  who  resides 
upon  the  shores  of  Lake  Blank  in  this  Stale,  was  sitting 
last  evening,  quite  late,  upon  the  piazza,  about  tweuty  rods 
from  where  his  small  skiff  was  tied  to  a  slake  in  the  edge  of 
the  water,  he  thought  he  indistinctly  heard  the  sound  of  oars. 
As  there  were  no  other  boats  in  that  immediate  viciuilj^  it 
flashed  across  his  mind  that  someone  was  borrowing  liis  own 
without  leave.  Then  he  walked  hastily  down  to  where  he 
had  left  it,  and,  as  he  feared,  the  rope  was  cut  and  the  bout 
was  gone.  Not  knowing  just  what  to  do  he  remained  some 
minutes  standing  there,  and  was  shortly  surprised  to  hear  a 
distant  splash,  as  of  somebody  or  something  falling  into  the 
water.  Wondering  what  it  all  meant,  he  was  about  to 
retrace  his  steps,  when  his  eye  caught  a  dim  sight  of  what 
appeared  to  be  a  small  bundle  of  clothes  lying  near  the  water. 
Examining  them  as  well  as  he  was  able  by  striking  a  match, 
he  saw  that  they  were  the  entire  suit  of  clothes  and  under- 
wear of  a  man.  This  as  he  thought  explained  the  absence  of 
the  boat  and  the  splash  also.  Some  one  had  undoubtedly 
gone  in  swimming  there  and  had  taken  his  boat  to  dive  off 
from.     Thinking  he  would  lecture   them  u  little   for  their 


118  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

freedom  with  other  people's  boats,  and  their  impudence 
besides  in  cutting  the  rope,  he  waited  patiently  for  them  to 
return. 

But  as  minute  after  minute  passed  and  nobody  put  in  an 
appearance  and  he  lieard  no  more  noise,  he  concluded  that 
they  had  caught  sight  of  him  on  returning,  before  he  could 
see  them,  and  had  put  off  again,  waiting  for  him  to  leave. 
With  this  idea  he  resolved  to  pick  up  the  clothes  and  carry 
them  off,  thus  compelling  the  cliap  who  owned  them  to  come 
up  to  the  house  for  them.  So  he  took  them  away  with  him, 
laughing  at  what  a  ridiculous  figure  he  would  compel  the 
purloiner  of  his  boat  to  assume  as  he  sneaked  up  to  the  house 
after  his  clothes. 

But  as  half  an  hour,  and  then  an  hour  passed,  and  still  no 
one  came,  he  began  to  wonder,  and  to  think  perhaps  the  man 
had  come  back  and  gone  home  without  his  clothes,  or  he 
might  have  had  a  companion  who  had  divided  his  raiment 
with  him.  And  again  he  visited  the  shore,  but  no  boat  was 
there,  nor  apparently  had  any  one  returned.  Returning  once 
more  to  the  house  he  looked  more  closely  at  the  clothes  and 
observed  the  end  of  a  large  envelope  protruding  from  the 
coat  pocket.  Taking  it  out  he  found  it  addressed  to  "Any 
one  who  finds  these  clothes." 

Mystified  beyond  measure  by  these  words,  the  gentleman 
decided  that  he  would  not,  by  himself,  open  the  envelope, 
which  was  sealed,  but  he  took  it  hastily  over  to  the  nearest 
railroad  station,  where  he  related  the  circumstances  of  his 
finding  it  to  the  ticket  agent  and  one  or  two  others,  when  the 
envelope  was  opened  and  found  to  contain  the  following: 

"  Let  whoever  shall  find  these  clothes  not  trouble  himself  at 
all  to  find  the  owner,  for  he  is  deep  down  on  the  bottom  of 
this  lake.  It  is  as  good  a  sepulchre  as  he  requires  or  desires. 
Besides,  it  will  be  utterly  impossible  for  you  or  any  one  ever 
to  find  my  remains.    I  shall  row  a  long  way  out,  then  jump 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  119 

overboard  with  a  bag  coutaiuiug  tea  pounds  of  shot  tied  to 
my  feet;  so  tight  will  it  be  tied  that  I  am  satisfied  when  I  am 
in  the  water  and  find  myself  sinking,  if  the  desire  to  live 
longer  returns  to  me,  as  I  am  told  it  often  has  to  others  who 
have  alleiupLed  suicide  by  drowning,  I  will  not  be  able  to 
sever  the  fatal  bag  before  the  waters  shall  have  put  an  end  to 
my  existence. 

"I  believe  my  friends  all  know  that  the  only  fear  I  ever 
had  in  connection  with  death  was  that  of  being  buried  alive, 
or  returning  to  consciousness  under  ground  in  my  coffin,  with 
no  means  of  putting  an  immediate  end  to  my  life.  This, 
then,  is  my  favorite  means  of  burial,  and  here  let  me  remain 
unsought  for.  My  affairs  are  all  in  proper  condition.  I 
leave  nothing  to  be  quarreled  over,  and  owe  no  one  a  dollar  in 
the  world. 

"  As  to  the  cause  of  my  desiring  to  leave  this  world,  that  is 
briefly  told.  I  have  loved — devotedly  and  fondly  loved. 
She  whom  I  have  spontaneously  and  unavoidably  though 
very  unwillingly  loved  is  not  free  to  return  my  love.  She  is 
married  to  another.  Whether,  if  she  were  free  to  return  my 
love,  it  would  be  reciprocated  or  not,  is  a  question  I  have 
never  asked  her.  She  is  noble-minded  and  pure  in  every 
thought  and  action,  and  I  die  with  a  blessing  for  her  upon  my 
lips,  and  the  seventeen  letters  which  compose  her  name 
stamped  deeply  upon  my  heart.  My  last  thought  is  of  her; 
my  last  wish  for  her  welfare.  When  she  of  the  seventeen 
letters  shall  receive  the  account  of  my  death,  then  will  she 
know  how  deeply  I  have  loved  her,  and  if  there  is  any  such 
a  thing  as  a  conscious  existence  after  death,  then  let  her  be 
assured  that  the  first  thing  I  will  be  conscious  of  in  that  other 
world  will  be  my  love  for  her.  And  if  by  any  means  I  can 
there  exert  any  influence  over  the  destinies  of  mortals,  then 
will  she  know  that  there  is  one  always  at  work  in  her  behalf. 
And  oh!  perhaps  (may  I  hope  it?)  in  that  other  world  we  may 


120  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

be  free  to  love  each  other,  and  that  my  love  will  be  returned; 
if  so,  will  not  that  be  heaven  indeed?  Yes,  though  it  were 
placed  in  the  middle  of  Hades  itself.  Till  then,  I  say  fare- 
well. I  iiave  only  one  request  to  ask  of  the  world  at  large. 
Do  not  jironouuce  me  insane.  Suicide  is  no  indication  of 
insanity. 

"If,  after  one  has  carefully  looked  over  everything  bearing 
upon  his  case,  he  finds  he  ha.s  more  misery  than  pleasure  in 
life,  with  no  chance  for  improvement,  it  is  only  philosophical 
to  wish  to  end  that  existence.  It  is  often  the  true  philoso- 
I)her  who  commits  suicide,  and  the  lunatics  live  on.  I  know 
that  life  to  me  away  from  the  object  of  my  affection  would  be 
a  lieavy  burden.  Tlien  why  carry  that  burden  when  I  can  so 
ea.<»ily  throw  it  down  and  find  eternal  rest?  Such  is  my 
determination.  A  few  sharp  pangs  while  in  the  water  and 
grief  and  sorrow  have  left  me  forever.  Then  why  cling  to 
tiiem?  This  little  pain  of  a  minute  is  the  last  I  shall  ever 
feel.  The  intense  desire  for  that  which  might  have  been,  but 
now  cAn  never  be.  will  soon  have  left  me  forever.  Envy 
me.  ye  who  continue  to  live  on  through  di-sappointed  hopes; 
through  unsatisfied  ambition;  through  unrequited  love; 
through  longings  never  satisfied;  through  labor  without  rest, 
and  througli  life  not  worth  the  living,  and  tell  me  which  of 
you  would  wish  to  live  your  whole  past  lives  over  again. 
None.  And  yet  yoti  have  no  reason  to  think  your  future 
lives  will  be  any  better.  Well,  live  on.  I  will  find  no  fault 
with  you  for  so  doing,  and  do  not  find  fault  with  me  for 
choosing  a  different  course.  I  have  no  one  dependent  upon 
me  in  this  world  in  the  slightest  manner;  then  am  I  not  free 
to  do  as  I  choose  with  my  own  life?  If  any  one  has  further 
curiosity  concerning  me  they  may  inquire  at  No.  37  Blank 
Street,  New  York,  at  which  house  I  have  boarded  for  a  long 
time,  and  am  very  well  known.  "  J.  Lockwell." 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  121 

On  reading  this  strange  epistle  the  men  at  the  station  had 
no  doubt  whatever  that  it  was  the  gentleman  who  inquired 
the  way  to  the  lake  in  the  beginning  of  the  night  (it  was  now 
nearly  morniug),  and  who  they  perfectly  well  remembered 
had  acted  in  so  strange  a  manner  as  to  excite  their  suspicion 
that  all  was  not  right  with  him.  But  as  nothing  could  be 
(lone  in  the  night  they  waited  patiently  for  daylight,  and  then 
several  boats  put  off  in  search  of  further  information.  It  was 
not  long  before  the  missing  skiff  was  found  drifting  about, 
but  containing  nothing  but  the  pair  of  oars  belonging  there- 
to. How  far  had  it  drifted  from  the  suicide's  grave?  None 
could  tell;  it  might  be  rods,  and  it  might  be  miles.  Nothing 
more  could  be  done  than  to  communicate  the  facts  to  the  au- 
thorities and  to  his  friends  in  the  city,  which  was  done. 

On  inquiring  at  the  number  indicated  in  his  letter  our  re- 
porter found  that  the  suicide  was  a  3'oung  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  abilities,  who  had  served  with  some  distinction  in 
the  army,  but  who  appeared  not  to  have  been  occupied  with 
any  tiling  recently,  and  had  been  talking  of  going  West  to 
push  his  fortunes  in  the  mines,  [Then  followed  some  inci- 
dents in  the  life  of  the  supposed  suicide  with  which  we  are 
already  acquainted,  and  concluded  by  saying:] 

The  family  at  the  house  have  not  the  slightest  idea  who  the 
lady  is  that  was  the  innocent  cause  of  wrecking  his  mind— 
for  that  he  was  insane  his  letter  gives  us  abundant  evidence, 
notwithstanding  his  assertions  to  the  contrary;  for  who  could 
speak  of  committing  suicide  in  the  manner  he  does  unless 
they  were  already  insane.  He  was  extremely  reserved  about 
all  personal  matters,  and  it  was  owing  to  this  reticence  on  his 
part  that  the  family  were  unable  to  imagine  who  the  lady 
might  be.  In  prosecuting  his  inquiries,  however,  our  reporter 
was  able  to  discover  the  name  of  the  lady  concerned,  but  as 
she  belongs  to  one  of  the  most  respectable  families  in  the 
city,  and  was  in  no  wise  to  blame  in  the  matter,  we  refrain 


.122  m  SEARCH  of  gold. 

from  publishing  it.  [This  was  a  piece  of  professional  lying 
on  the  part  of  the  paper,  for  the  reporter  had  not  the  most 
distant  idea  as  to  who  was  the  lady.]  The  whole  affair  is  a 
very  sad  one,  and  if  a  moial  can  be  deduced  from  the  story 
of  the  facts  it  is,  perhaps,  that  married  women  should  not  en- 
courage  too  much  the  attention  of  other  men,  though  we  have 
not  the  slightest  doubt  that  no  harm  at  all  was  intended  in 
the  case. 

Our  hero  smiled  audibly  as  he  closed  this  pa- 
thetic and  prolix  account  of  his  own  death,  and  ex- 
claimed, "  Well,  I  will  be  hanged  if  they  have  not 
made  me  insane  after  all.  Now,  as  poor  as  I  am,  I 
would  give  eleven  cents  to  know  just  what  those 
two  angels  in  human  form  think  of  this  account 
when  they  see  it.  But  I  wdll  come  to  them  as  a 
ghost  some  day,  or  else  materialize.  Hapj^y 
thought !  materialize  will  be  the  very  thing.  If  I 
keep  close  while  I  am  out  West  here  not  a  suspi- 
cion will  be  raised  of  my  still  living,  and  when  I 
return  East  I  can  get  some  one  to  act  as  a  medium, 
give  a  Httle  seance,  and  then  appear  as  the  materi- 
alized spirit  of  the  suicide !  It  shall  be  done.  I 
will  stay  out  West  here  a  year  or  two,  and  then 
hurrah  for  some  fun  in  the  spirit  line !  And  now 
to  business."  But  before  following  our  friend 
further  let  us  see  how  the  two  ladies  received  the 
news  of  their  friend's  suicide. 

The  lady  who  had  resided  nearest  to  him  when 
in  the  city  was  sitting  at  the  breakfast  table  on  the 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  123 

second  morning  after  the  event  when  her  husband 
suddenly  turned  toward  her,  asking,  "What  was 
the  first  name  of  that  Lockwell  who  has  been  visit- 
ing here  lately  ? " 

"Oh,  by  the  way,"  rej^lied  his  wife,  "he  was 
here  day  before  yesterday  to  say  good-bye  ;  he  has 
gone  away— gone  West.  His  first  name  did  you 
ask  ?     It  was  Joseph — Joseph  Lockwell." 

"  My  dear,  I  am  afraid  this  news  I  hold  in  my 
hand  will  be  a  great  blow  to  you.  You  evidently 
thought  a  great  deal  of  that  man,  and  as  he  was 
honorable  and  upright,  I  was  always  glad  to  have 
him  come  and  see  you.  I  could  not  foresee  this. 
I  thought  that,  as  I  was  away  so  much,  it  would 
always  be  jDleasant  to  have  his  calls  relieve  the 
monotony  of  your  rather  dull  life.  I  am  truly 
sorry  to  tell  you,  my  darling,  that  he  will  never 
again  come  to  this  house,  or  to  any  other.  He  is 
dead — committed  suicide,"  and  he  gave  her  the  pa- 
per to  peruse. 

"Great  God!"  she  exclaimed;  "what  are  you 
telling  me  ?  Then  reading  the  account  she  burst 
into  exclamations  of  sorrow,  amazement,  and  hor- 
ror, and  at  the  close  threw  herseK  weeping  into  her 
husband's  arms. 

"  My  husband,  do  you  know  who  is  the  lady  he 
refers  to  there  ?" 

"  I  think  I  can  guess." 


124  7iV  SEARCIT  OF  GOLD. 

"  It  is  I.  I  am  the  uuiuteiitioiuil  cause  of  all 
tliis.  I  have  long  known  he  liked  me  well — loved 
me  in  fact,  but,  as  he  was  the  very  soul  of  houor,  I 
knew  you  would  not  object  to  his  coming  here, 
even  if  you  knew  all/' 

"  Most  certainly  I  shc^ild  not  have  objected, 
even  had  you  told  me  all  this  before.  I  had  great 
confidence  in  him,  and  perfect  confidence  in  you, 
and  WiLS  always  glad  to  have  him  call  upon,  or  take 
you  out,  and  knowing  all  I  know  to-day  I  should 
still  be  glad  to  welcome  him  here  exactly  upon  the 
same  footing  a.s  of  old,  if  he  were  alive."' 

"  Oh,  my  husband.  It  is  this  very  liberal,  gen- 
erous, noble  nature  of  yours  that  keeps  my  love 
for  you  as  strong  and  fresh  as  it  was  eight  years 
aj'o  when  I  married  vou.  And  now  let  me  confess 
still  further.  There  is  no  man  I  have  yet  seen 
whom  I  liked  as  well  as  I  did  this  Ix)ckwell.  But 
you  will  believe  me,  I  know,  when  I  tell  you  that 
never  for  a  moment  did  my  love  for  him  approxi- 
mate that  which  I  bear  for  my  husband.  And  let 
me  add  that  never  once  in  any  way  did  he  make 
the  slightest  attempt  to  win  my  love  away  from 
my  husband.  On  the  contrary,  he  always  spoke  in 
the  highest  terms  of  you,  and  exalted  your  char- 
acter in  a  way  that  was  intended  to  increase  the 
love  of  your  \vife  for  you.  Ah  I  would  to  God 
we  could  undo  the  work  of  the  last  two  days." 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  125 

"  I  fully  believe  you,"  replied  her  husband,  "  and 
it  is  only  what  I  should  have  exj^ected  of  you  both." 

Then  she  told  him  how  Lockwell  had  written  her 
name,  making  just  seventeen  lettei*s  in  it,  and  gave 
him  all  the  history  of  his  last  call  upon  her,  wdth 
every  incident,  and  they  together  mourned  the  loss 
of  her  friend. 

"We  wish  it  was  as  fair  a  picture  of  domestic  life 
that  we  have  to  recount  in  the  case  of  the  other 
lady.  But  alas  !  there  are  not  many  husbands  who 
take  this  better  way  in  the  treatment  of  their  wives. 
Many  think  that  it  is  among  the  stern  requirements 
of  duty  to  be  strict,  austere,  and  unrelenting  in 
their  conduct  toward  their  wives,  not  knowing  that 
such  conduct  will  in  time  wear  out  the  most  de- 
voted love  of  any  woman  so  surely  as  it  exists ;  and, 
although  they  may  still  remain  faithful  toward 
their  husbands  as  the  world  regards  that  word,  yet 
it  will  always  be  up-hill  work,  and  there  will  be  a 
constant  and  natural  inclination  toward  other  and 
more  congenial  society. 

Here,  too,  it  was  at  the  table  and  on  the  same 
morning  that  the  news  was  read  first  by  the  hus- 
band. Turning  to  his  wife  he  exclaimed,  "  "Well, 
this  is  just  what  might  have  been  expected.  Don't 
you  know,  Sarah,  I  often  spoke  to  you  about  re- 
ceiving the  calls  from  that  young  bachelor  Lock- 
well  ?     "Well,  you  persisted  against  what  I  told  you 


126  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

was  joiir  duty  in  the  case,  and  now  you  have  mur- 
dered him." 

"  Great  heavens  !"  said  she,  "  what  do  you  mean  ? 
Is  he  killed,  or  what  are  you  talking  ahout  V 

"  I  say  he  is  nmrdered  by  you,"  lie  replied.  "  l^ut 
here,  take  the  paper  and  read  this  account,  and  then 
you  had  better  seek  the  privacy  of  your  own  room 
and  ask  God  to  forgive  you  the  great  sin  which 
your  light  and  frivolous  conduct  has  caused." 

She  read  the  article,  most  painfully  blushing  all 
the  time ;  for  she  knew  the  stern  eyes  of  her  hus- 
band were  watching  her  countenance  to  detect  evi- 
dence of  guilt,  and  this  fact  alone  was  sufficient  to 
make  her  appear  guilty,  though  in  very  truth  she 
was  conscious  of  having  done  no  wrong.  Yet  she 
knew  the  simple  fact  of-  her  having  received  the 
l)leasant  calls  of  this  bachelor  friend  was  a  great 
crime  in  the  eyes  of  her  puritanical  and  fanatical 
liusband. 

It  was  unavoidable  under  the  circumstances  that 
there  should  have  arisen  in  her  bosom  a  feeling  of 
the  warmest  friendship,  and  followed  by  love  for 
Lockwell,  as  fast  as  the  love  for  her  husband  was 
dying  out — killed,  not  by  her  regard  for  Lockwell, 
l)ut  simply  by  the  coui*se  of  her  husband  himself. 
It  was  not  sui-prising,  then,  nor  was  it  wrong,  that 
she  should  seek  in  the  companionship  of  another 
that  social  pleasure  which  the  fanatical  zeal  of  her 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  127 

husband  prevented  her  from  finding  in  his  com- 
pany. She  yielded  to  liim  the  duties  of  her  marriage 
contract  and  remained  faithful  to  her  vows.  More 
than  this,  under  the  circumstances,  should  not  have 
been  required  of  her.  Yet  she  was  actually  obliged, 
by  his  natural  antipathy  and  opposition,  to  deceive 
him  whenever  she  received  the  calls  of  Lock  well, 
who  was  pretty  well  acquainted  with  the  facts  of 
the  case;  and  although  he  heartily  despised  her 
husband,  never  in  any  way  spoke  disparagingly  of 
him  in  her  presence,  but  sought  in  every  way  in  his 
power  to  alleviate  the  misery  of  her  existence,  and 
succeeded  in  enabHng  her  to  pass  many  a  pleasant 
hour.     And  in  all  this  there  was  no  harm. 

So  it  was  with  genuine  grief  she  read  of  the  fate 
of  Lockwell,  and  yet  thene  was  an  under-current  of 
intense  joy  when  she  thought  she  was  so  beloved ; 
for  she  never  doubted  for  a  second  that  she  was  the 
lady  referred  to  in  the  published  account.  Did  not 
the  seventeen  letters  and  the  card  he  had  left  with 
her  prove  that  ?  When  she  finished  the  article  she 
had  somewhat  recovered  from  her  confusion,  and 
turning  toward  her  husband  said  : 

"  If  I  am  the  one  referred  to  by  him,  and  so  have 
been  the  innocent  cause  of  his  death,  I  am  truly  and 
sincerely  sorry ;  for  there  has  perished  one  of  nat- 
ure's noblemen.  A  man  in  every  way  fitted  to 
marry  and  make  his  wife  ha]i])y.     Having  no  mor- 


128  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

bid  jealousy,  and  being  the  sonl  of  honor  himself, 
he  would  not  be  continually  looking  for  and  suspect- 
ing dishonorable  actions  upon  the  part  of  his  \nfe. 
Being  liberal  in  his  opinions,  he  would  be  liberal  in 
liis  judgments  upon  his  wife's  actions.  As  his 
views  were  not  cramped  by  narrow  religious  dogmas, 
so  he  would  not  allow  his  wife's  conduct  to  be  con- 
trolled in  any  such  way  as  are  some  other  wives', 
and  in  return  he  would  receive  from  liis  wife  per- 
fect confidence  and  trust.  She  would  never  wish  to 
learn  to  deceive  him.  That  love  which  she  feels 
for  her  husband  when  she  marries  him  would  in- 
crease and  strengthen  as  the  years  pass  on.  To  se- 
cure that  society  which  every  person  craves  and 
should  have,  she  would  not  be  compelled  to  resort 
to  clandestine  meetings,  and  thoughts  of  illicit 
pleasures  would  never  be  entertained  by  her.  In 
short,"  said  she,  waxing  indignant,  "  they  would  be 
about  as  different  a  couple  from  some  others  I 
could  mention  as  you  can  well  imagine ;  and " 
— breaking  dowTi — "  they  would  be  about  as  happy 
as  others  are  miserable.'' 

"  Well,  madam,  if  these  are  the  tears  of  repent- 
ance I  am  glad  to  see  them,  and  I  will  leave  you 
alone  with  your  reflections  and  your  God,"  saying 
which  he  withdrew. 

"  Ab,  yes,"  she  murmured,  "  it  is  lea\'ing  us 
wives  alone  with  our  God  that  causes  all  the  mis- 


COMMITS  SUICIDE.  120 

chief.  He  is  not  sociable  enough.  Or  at  all  events 
the  god  of  a  woman  is  love,  and  she  must  worship 
it  through  some  tangible  shape.  Ah  well !  how 
deeply  he  must  have  loved  me  to  die  for  me ! 
There  is  comfort  in  that  thought." 

The  statement  made  public  by  the  clerk  of  the 
hardware  store  where  Lockwell  purchased  the  ten 
pounds  of  shot  (for  he  had  indeed  bought  the  shot 
and  thrown  them  away,  leaving  the  bill  so  that  it 
would  be  found  in  the  room  which  he  vacated),  to 
the  effect  that  Lockwell  himself  had  bought  the 
shot  the  day  before  the  suicide,  effectually  dissi- 
pated all  lingering  doubts,  if  any  there  were,  as  to 
the  genuineness  of  the  suicide. 


130  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 


THE   DUEL. 


DmECTLT  after  his  amval  in  Minnesota  our 
friend  heard  of  an  expedition  soon  to  start  from 
there  across  the  plains  for  the  gold  fields  of  Mon- 
tana. As  this  was  in  the  right  direction  he  resolved 
to  join  it.  He  paid  his  fare  through  in  advance,  to 
the  leader  of  the  party,  and  awaited  patiently  for 
the  caravan  to  start.  But  he  waited  in  vain.  Week 
after  week  passed,  and  for  one  reason  or  another  the 
time  for  starting  was  postponed.  He  was  kept 
there,  with  many  others,  nntil  their  patience  was 
exhausted,  and,  finally,  Lockwell  demanded  the  re- 
turn of  the  money  which  he  had  paid  for  his  fare, 
as  he  wished  to  go  to  the  mines  by  another  route. 
This  was  refused.  Lockwell  became  very  indignant 
at  this,  and  expressed  his  opinion  very  forcibly  that 
the  whole  undertaking  was  a  swindle,  and  gotten  up 
by  a  rascal,  which  opinion  was  shared  by  all  the 
others,  some  thirty  in  number,  who  had  joined  the 
expedition  and  were  in  the  same  predicament  as  our 
ex-lieutenant.  The  language  he  used  was  very  for- 
cible, and  came  to  the  ears  of  a  brother  of  the  organ- 


THE  DUEL.  131 

izer  of  the  party,  and  who  then  was  in  temporary 
charge  of  the  expedition,  the  real  leader  and  respon- 
sible man  being  away.  This  brother  sent  to  demand 
an  explanation.  Lockwell  explained  that  he  had 
paid  his  fare  upon  the  representations  that  the  party 
would  start  across  the  plains  a  long  time  ago.  And 
as  there  was  still  no  prospect  of  starting,  he  wished 
to  go  by  another  route,  and  if  his  money  was  not 
returned,  then  he  reiterated  and  reaffirmed  "that 
whoever  kept  it  was  a  swindler  and  a  scoundrel." 

ISTow,  as  this  brother  was  totally  unable  to  return 
the  money,  he  felt  obliged  to  resent  the  language, 
and  accordingly  sent  a  challenge,  which  was 
promptly  accepted,  and  the  next  morning  was 
named  as  the  time,  and  a  neighboring  but  obscure 
grove  was  selected  as  the  site  for  the  hostile  meet- 
ing. That  very  evening,  word  having  gotten  out 
in  some  unknown  way  that  tlie  affair  was  to  come 
off,  the  disappointed  members  of  the  party  wanted 
to  mob  the  opponent  of  Lockwell,  believing  he  was 
as  guilty  as  his  brotlier  of  embezzling  their  funds, 
for  they  had  all  paid  their  fare  in  advance,  and  now 
could  not  get  it  back,  and  it  was  only  at  the  earnest 
solicitations  of  Lockwell,  who  believed  this  brother 
was  wholly  innocent,  that  they  could  be  prevented 
from  acts  of  violence.  He  told  them  that  if  they 
now  broka  up  this  little  affair  of  honor  the  other 
party  would  certainly  think  that  he  (Lockwell)  had 


132  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

instigated  tliem  thereto  for  the  pm-pose  of  prevent- 
ing the  meeting.  So  it  was  decided  not  to  molest 
eitlier  party. 

On  the  evening  previous  to  the  duel  the  medita- 
tions of  our  friend  were  not  of  the  pleasantest  kind. 
He  could  not  get  rid  of  the  impression  that  as  he 
had  just  ])een  playing  at  death — pretending  to  com- 
mit suicide — now  death  was  coming  to  him  in  real- 
ity. He  was  sorry  for  the  whole  affair.  He  did 
not  believe  his  opponent  was  ai  all  to  blame 
for  the  acts  of  his  brother,  and  although  he  at 
the  time  had  felt  justified  in  using  very  strong 
language  against  that  brother,  he  could  not  but  ad- 
mit that  if  he  himself  had  been  situated  as  was  his 
antagonist  he  would  in  all  probability  have  done 
the  same.  Let  the  affair-  end  as  it  might,  he  fully 
determined  not  to  have  the  blood  of  this  man  on 
his  hands.  Yet  exactly  how  to  manage  he  did  not 
see.  They  were  both  good  shots,  and  if  neither 
party  was  hit  on  the  first  fire  they  were  to  continue 
firing  till  one  was  wounded  or  they  emptied  their 
revolvei*s.  So  if  he  fired  intentionally  missing  the 
other,  and  he  himself  was  not  wounded,  his  oppo- 
nent would  continue  banging  away  at  him  until  he 
fell.  Not  a  pleasant  jirospect,  surely,  to  stand  be- 
fore a  good  marksman  at  fifteen  paces  and  receive 
his  fire  till  you  dropped  dead !  But  he  'determined 
to  write  his  letters  and  not  think  any  more  about  it 


THE  DUEL.  133 

than  he  could  help.  He  spent  most  of  the  night  in 
writing  about  a  dozen  letters,  including  one  each  to 
the  two  married  lady  friends,  in  which  he  described 
the  whole  deception  of  the  suicide,  and  asldng  their 
forgiveness  if  he  had  caused  them  one  moment's 
pain,  assuring  them  that  such  had  not  been  his  in- 
tention ;  a  little  amusement  and  final  j^leasure  for 
all  being  his  only  object,  and  then  gave  each  a  full 
description  of  the  situation  in  which  he  found  him- 
self this  evening,  and  they  would  know  by  gettino- 
these  letters  that  he  had  fallen  on  the  succeeding 
day,  by  the  bullet  of  his  adversary. 

He  wrote  at  great  length,  for,  as  the  hours  ad- 
vanced, he  felt  a  greater  and  stronger  presentiment 
that  he  would  fall  at  the  first  fire,  and  that  the  sun 
had  set  for  the  last  time  for  him. 

He  finished  with  a  note  to  his  adversary,  telling 
him  that  he  fully  exonerated  him  from  all  blame  in 
his  death,  and  hoping  he  would  be  put  to  no  trouble 
in  the  matter. 

These  letters  sealed  and  i^laced  upon  the  table 
with  directions  to  mail  only  in  case  of  his  death 
and  he  once  more  turned  his  thoughts  toward  his 
course  of  action  on  the  following  morning.  Yet  so 
strong  and  certain  had  become  his  presentiment 
that  he  would  be  killed  on  the  first  shot,  he  scarcely 
thought  it  worth  while  to  trouble  himself  about 
what  he  should  do.    Yet  his  usual  reason  prompted 


134  nr  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

liim  to  provide  a  course  of  action  in  case  he  -^as 
missed,  for  it  miglit  so  liappen.  He  finally  decided 
to  liold  Lis  revolver  down  by  liis  right  leg,  and  at 
the  word  fire,  if  he  did  not  on  the  instant  feel  a 
wound  or  drop  dead,  he  would,  in  wheeling  and 
raising  his  pistol,  contrive  to  shoot  himself  in  the 
fleshy  part  of  his  arm,  and,  if  possible,  in  such  a 
way  as  to  give  the  impression  that  the  wound  was 
made  by  the  other  party,  or,  at  worst,  that  he  had 
accidentally  shot  himself.  In  either  case  it  would 
terminate  the  duel.  Taking  a  revolver  in  his  hand 
he  practiced  in  his  room  for  many  minutes  on  the 
proper  way  to  hold  it  till  he  thought,  if  he  had  a 
chance,  he  could  put  the  idea  in  practice  ^vith  suc- 
cess. He  never  mistnisted  his  own  nerves ;  he 
knew  he  would  be  perfectly  cool. 

Then  he  laid  down  and  fell  into  a  tranquil  slum- 
ber till  a])Out  one  hour  jjrevious  to  tlie  time  fixed 
for  tlie  meeting,  when  he  was  aroused  by  his  second. 
He  ate  his  breakfast  as  usual,  then  they  proceeded 
to  the  ground  selected  and  arrived  five  minutes 
ahead  of  time,  but  the  others  were  already  there. 
They  were  soon  placed  in  position  by  the  seconds 
and  everything  pronounced  correct  and  in  readiness. 

The  arrangements  were  that  they  were  to  be 
placed  back  to  back  at  fifteen  paces,  the  seconds 
should  toss  up  as  to  who  should  give  the  word,  and 
that  one  should  count  slowly  one,  two,  three,  fire ! 


TEE  DUEL.  135 

and  at  tlie  word  fire,  and  not  before,  tliey  should 
turn  and  bang  away.  Our  friend's  second  won  the 
toss ;  the  time  has  arrived,  there  is  a  hush  of  anx- 
ious expectancy  as  he  says,  "Gentlemen,  are  you 
ready  V 

"  Ready,"  they  both  respond. 

"  One,  two,  three — fire !" 

Almost  simultaneously  with  the  last  word  came 
the  rejjort  of  the  pistol  of  his  foe,  and  without  a 
perceptible  interval  of  time  Lock  well  completed  his 
wheel  and  his  fire  ringing  out  seemed  but  a  contin- 
uation of  the  report  of  the  first  pistol.  He  did  not 
fall :  he  had  been  missed  ;  and  his  own  programme 
fully  carried  out,  he  felt  the  sharp  pain  in  his  arm, 
from  which  the  blood  was  flowing.  The  seconds 
cried  "  Enough,  enough,  one  is  wounded,"  and  only 
Just  in  time,  for  the  pistol  of  the  other  was  again 
raised  and  about  to  press  the  fatal  trigger  for  the 
second  shot.  The  wound  from  which  the  blood  was 
flowing  was  found  to  be  quite  severe,  more  severe 
than  our  hero  had  intended  by  a  great  deal,  but  the 
surgeon  whom  they  had  brought  speedily  dressed 
the  wound,  and  told  him  that  the  worst  he  need  fear 
was  confinement  to  his  room  for  a  week  or  two. 
Lockwell  had  feared  that  his  shooting  himself 
would  be  noticed  by  the  seconds  and  the  surgeon, 
and  he  was  all  prepared  to  attribute  it  to  haste  and 
nervousness.     He  was  sm-prised  and  pleased,  there- 


136  Ilf  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

fore,  to  find  tliat  tliej  all  sui:»posed  as  a  matter  of 
course  that  he  liad  been  hit  by  his  antagonist,  and 
the  latter  himself  never  suspected  anything  else. 
He  let  that  impression  remain  with  great  satisfac- 
tion. 

While  his  wound  was  being  dressed  his  late 
enemy  was  standing  by  watching  the  case  with  deej) 
interest.  Reaching  out  his  hand,  Lockwell  said  :  "I 
suppose  we  have  done  all  that  is  necessary  to  satisfy 
the  code  of  honor,  and  now  with  great  willingness  I 
offer  you  my  apologies  for  the  offensive  language  I 
used  in  regard  to  your  brother.     The  truth  is " 

"  Say  no  more,"  interrui)ted  the  other,  grasping 
the  outstretched  hand  and  shaking  it  with  great 
heartiness.  "  It  is  I  who  ought  to  apologize,  and  I 
am  truly  sorry  to  have  wounded  you.  To  tell 
the  truth  I  was  in  hopes,  ])y  some  miraculous  inter- 
position, we  both  would  have  escaped." 

"  Then  you  should  be  very  glad,  instead  of  sorry, 
for  this  little  scratch,  for  when  I  remember  what  a 
good  reputation  you  have  as  a  marksman,  I  think  I 
may  well  congratulate  myself  at  receiving  no  more 
than  this.  But  you  will  come  with  me  to  my  room 
and  assist  me  in  burning  up  the  letters  which  I 
spent  last  evening  in  writing." 

In  good  spirits,  and  as  the  best  of  friends,  they 
adjourned  to  Lockwell's  rooms,  where  the  letters 
then  lying  on  the  table  caught  the  eyes  of  both 


THE  DUEL.  137 

gentlemen,  and  Lockwell  said,  pointing  to  the  one 
addressed  to  his  opponent,  "  Take  that  and  read  it, 
although  it  was  only  intended  to  be  read  under  dif- 
ferent circumstances."  The  other  read  it  through 
and  was  visibly  affected  as  he  exclaimed,  "You 
cannot  think  how  rejoiced  I  am  that  this  affair  has 
turned  out  no  worse.  Had  I  been  so  uufortimate 
as  to  slay  you  this  letter  would  have  heaped  coals 
of  fire  uj)on  my  head !" 

"  Well,  we  will  say  no  more  about  it,  but  if  you 
will  oblige  me  you  may  throw  those  other  letters, 
that  I  spent  so  many  hours  over,  into  the  fire.  By 
the  way,  I  had  a  strong  presentiment  or  premoni- 
tion that  I  should  be  killed  this  morning,  but,  like 
nine  out  of  ten  of  all  premonitions,  it  did  not  come 
true;  only  those  that  come  true  are  remembered 
and  the  others  not  noticed  or  forgotten,  and  so  peo- 
ple become  superstitious." 

Notwithstanding  his  making  so  light  of  it,  Lock- 
well  had  received  a  very  painful  wound.  The  ball 
had  passed  through  the  flesh  of  his  left  arm  below 
the  elbow,  and  it  would  be  weeks,  if  not  months, 
before  he  fully  recovered  the  use  of  that  member. 
But  he  was  not  disposed  to  complain  when  he 
thought  of  "  what  might  have  been." 


138  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  X. 

HOME-MADE    "  HASH." 

Three  weeks  after  receiving  his  wound  and  lie 
was  once  more  traveling;  this  time  with  some  half 
a  dozen  membei*s  of  the  hroken-up  expedition,  who 
had  determined  to  go  down  the  river  to  St.  Louis 
and  thence  across  the  plains,  with  a  train  of  some 
kind,  to  Nevada  or  California.  Arriving  at  8t. 
Louis  the  party  concluded,  by  unanimous  vote,  to 
remain  there  a  few  days  and  see  all  the  sights. 
But  as  funds  were  vijry  limited  with  most  of  the 
party,  it  wa.s  decided  to  hire,  for  a  week,  a  vacant 
garret  on  the  very  top  floor  of  a  large  five-story 
warehouse,  get  a  small  coal-oil  stove  and  do  their 
own  cooking.  Hour  and  molasses  were  bought, 
together  with  yeast-powders,  salt,  and  all  the  small 
necessaries  of  the  kitchen.  But  as  no  one  knew 
how  to  make  bread,  it  was  decided  to  have  pan- 
cakes, or  flapjacks,  as  they  called  them. 

For  a  description  of  their  housekeeping  perhaps 
we  cannot  do  better  than  copy  verbatim  from  the 
MSS.  of  Lockwell.     He  says : 

You  see  there  was  only   one   fellow  among  us 


HOME-MADE  "HASH.''  139 

who  thonglit  he  could  build  flapjacks,  and  what 
under  the  sun  ever  gave  him  so  erroneous  an  im- 
pression I  cannot  conceive.  However,  he  went  to 
work  with  flour,  water,  etc.,  and  you  would  have 
thought,  to  have  seen  him,  that  he  knew  all  about 
it,  so  calmly  he  took  the  yeast-j)owders  and  put  just 
flour  enough  in  them  to  season  them,  and  then  set 
the  whole  in  the  corner  to  rise,  while  he  sat  down 
close  beside  it  to  watch.  We  were  all  looking  on 
hungry  and  waiting  for  our  dinner.  The  major 
suggested  to  the  cook  the  quicker  way  to  raise  it 
would  be  with  the  toe  of  his  boot.  Another  timidly 
asked  the  cook  if  he  had  put  salt  in  the  mixture  ? 

"  No,"  said  that  individual  with  a  glance  of  scorn 
at  the  man's  ignorance.  "You  put  salt  in  the  mo- 
lasses you  eat  on  them." 

Another,  still  more  impatient,  went  up  and  un- 
covered the  tin  kettle  in  which  they  were  put  to 
rise,  to  see,  as  he  expressed  it,  if  they  weren't  done. 
"  By  Jove,"  he  exclaimed,  "  instead  of  rising  they 
have  gone  down  an  inch.  If  we  wait  any  longer 
they  will  go  down  through  the  floor." 

"  Oh,"  said  the  cook,  "  they  always  fall  just  be- 
fore they  rise." 

"  Oh,  I  see,  they  go  down  through  the  floor  just 
to  get  a  good  start  to  go  through  the  roof,  eh  ?" 

Five  minutes  more  of  patient,  silent  waiting, 
then — ' 


140  IN  SEARCH  OF  OOLD. 

"  Tliey  must  l)c  all  right  by  this  time." 

"If  they  have  not  gone  up  now  they  never 
will." 

"  Come  now,  cook,  yon  need  not  keep  us  waiting 
just  to  show  how  smart  you  are,"  etc.,  etc. 

Ten  minutes  in  all  had  not  passed  when  the  cook 
announced  they  were  ready  to  be  fried,  and  I  tell 
you  I  was  glad,  for  I  was  getting  very  hungry. 

Fire  was  lighted  in  the  ker(»sene  stove,  the  grid- 
dle ]iut  on,  and  we  all  watched  the  cakes  its  they 
were  put  on  to  fry.  Just  then  some  one  suggested 
that  as  we  all  ought  to  practice  economy,  and  \\v 
would  each  of  us  need  all  the  money  we  possessed 
before  arriving  at  our  destination,  that  we  take  a 
solenm  resolution  to  eat  nothing  at  the  restaurants, 
but  only  partake  of  what  we  ourselves  should  cook 
upon  the  coal-oil  stove  ;  this  was  solemnly  agreed  to, 
and  hands  were  shaken  to  celebrate  the  good  reso- 
lution. 

By  this  time  the  cakes  were  supposed  to  be  done 
on  one  side,  and  an  effort  was  made  by  the  cook 
2)ro  tern,  to  turn  them  ;  but  alas !  he  had  forgotten 
to  grease  the  griddle,  and  now  that  and  the  cakes 
were  more  firmly  united  than  if  they  had  been 
married  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  All 
efforts  to  divorce  them  proved  futile,  and  tlie  grid- 
dle was  removed  and  scrajjed  amid  the  anathemas 
both  loud  and  deep  of  the  surrounding  party,  who 


HOME-MADE  "HASH."  141 

were  beginning  to  surmise  that  the  cook  was  not 
thoroughly  conversant  with  his  business.  Broad 
hints  were  dropped  that  he  might  better  sell  his 
commission.  But  that  individual,  perspiring  at 
every  pore,  coolly  said  he  would  fry  those  cakes 
or  he  would  perish  in  the  attempt.  The  griddle 
was  cleaned  and  replaced  upon  the  stove,  when  the 
discovery  was  made  that  there  was  no  grease  in  the 
house!  The  spirits  of  the  party  fell  ten  points. 
Many  began  to  regret  the  solemn  resolution  they 
had  made  not  to  get  their  meals  elsewhere.  One 
of  the  party  volunteered  to  go  for  some  butter  or 
lard,  whichever  he  could  find  first,  and  he  started. 

"  For  heaven's  sake,"  called  out  after  him  one 
famished  individual,  "get  axle  grease  if  you  can 
save  any  time  by  so  doing." 

Twenty  long  minutes  passed.  Blank  despair  was 
falling  upon  the  party  when  the  messenger  re- 
turned bringing  half  a  pound  of  tallow  and  two 
bottles  of  whiskey !  "  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  I  do 
not  approve  of  drinking  as  a  rule,  as  you  all  know, 
but  as  an  exception  I  do,  and  if  there  ever  was  an 
excej)tion,  I  think  the  present  time  will  come  under 
that  head.  While  the  cook  is  preparing  our  frugal 
rejiast,  let  us  obey  the  scriptural  injunction  and 
take  a  little  wine  (or  whiskey)  for  our  stomachs' 
sake,  saying  which,  he  broke  off  the  neck  of  the 
bottle,  and  with  a  tin  cup  passed  it  around,  saying : 


142  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  Drink,  that  we  iiiaj  receive  strength  to  abide  by 
our  good  resohition  to  waste  no  more  money  in 
restaurants,  for,"  with  a  glance  at  the  griddle,  "I 
think  we  shall  need  it." 

"  JS'eed  what  ?"  said  the  major,  "  the  strength,  the 
mone}^,  or  the  flapjacks  ?" 

"  All  three,  my  friend,  all  three,  without  discrim- 
ination." 

In  the  meantime  the  cakes  had  been  successfully 
turned  and  were  now  being  removed.  One  for 
each  individual  was  placed  upon  a  tin  plate  and 
handed  to  him,  together  with  a  knife  and  fork. 
The  molasses  cup  was  also  passed  around  and  carv- 
ing commenced.  The  cakes  were  a  beautiful  brown 
— in  fact  they  were  brown  before  they  were  cooked. 

"Thunder!"  said  the  major,  as  with  the  third 
attemj^t  he  succeeded  in  cutting  off  a  very  small 
piece  from  the  gutta-percha-like  substance  before 
him.  "Cook,  get  a  suitable  mould  and  make  that 
batter  into  rubber  boots  and  you  have  got  a  for- 
tune." 

By  this  time  each  one  had  got  a  piece  in  his 
mouth,  and  the  looks  they  cast,  first  at  one  another 
and  then  concentrated  upon  the  cook,  must  have 
made  the  hovering  angels  laugh. 

I  think  the  cook  himself  by  tliis  time  began  to 
get  a  faint  idea  that  he  was  not  a  proficient  in  the 
culinary  art.     The   cakes  had  the  horribly  bitter 


HOME-MADE  ''HASH.''  143 

taste  of  the  yeast-powders  of  wliicli  they  were  prin- 
cipally composed. 

"  The  bitter  taste,"  said  the  cook,  "  I  think  comes 
from  the  molasses,  it  has  not  been  properly  refined ; 
but  the  cakes  appear  to  me  to  be,  on  the  whole, 
very  good." 

"Then  I  move,"  said  the  major,  "that  he  be 
compelled  to  eat  a  couple  of  them,  and  I  would 
not  make  my  worst  enemy  eat  more  than  that ; 
besides,  they  are  so  heavy  that  two  is  all  he  could 
possibly  carry  about  with  him." 

This  proposition,  which  was  immediately  sec- 
onded, made  the  cook  turn  pale,  and  he  hastened 
to  say :  "  "Well,  gentlemen,  if  you  are  not  fond  of 
cakes  I  will  go  out  and  get  some  potatoes  and  we 
can  boil  them,  and  I  will  also  get  some  bread  and 
l)utter,  so  we  will  make  out  for  this  meal,  and  the 
next  man  whose  turn  it  is  to  cook  may  do  better 
for  you." 

This  compromise  was  effected  and  recourse  was 
again  had  to  the  second  bottle  of  whiskey  to  assist 
in  passing  the  time  till  something  better  coidd  be 
had  to  stay  their  stomachs. 

At  the  fourth  round  of  the  bottle  the  major  in- 
sisted that  he  could  dance  the  hornpipe,  and  that 
he  felt  like  doing  so.  The  cook  told  him  he  was 
only  drunk!  He  retorted  tliat  if  he  was  light- 
headed   it  was  because  those  fried  yeast-powders 


144  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

whicli  lie   bad   eaten   had   at  last  begun   to   rise, 
going  up  into  bis  bead  and  making  bim  so. 

As  I  did  not  enjoy  drinking  wbiskey  I  con- 
cluded I  would  take  a  stroll  around  tlie  block  until 
tbe  next  attempt  at  a  meal  sbould  eitber  bave  suc- 
ceeded or  failed.  Some  of  tbe  otbers  bad  already 
sauntered  out.  I  walked  up  balf  a  dozen  blocks 
till  I  passed  a  grocery  store  and  saw  exposed  for 
sale,  in  a  tub  by  tbe  door,  a  large  quantity  of  eggs. 
A  bappy  tbougbt  struck  me ;  I  quickly  bougbt  two 
dozen  of  tbesc  eggs  for  our  dinner.  Here,  at  last, 
was  sometbing  tbe  acting  cook  could  serve  up 
witbout  spoiling.  Eggs  would  ])e  good  wbetber 
cooked  bard  or  soft.  It  was  singular  none  of  us 
bad  tbougbt  of  eggs — tbe  very  thing  we  wanted. 
IListily  retracing  my  steps,  I  chanced  to  glance  in 
wliile  passing  a  restaurant  and  there,  in  tbe  very 
act  of  devouring  a  huge  beefsteak  surrounded  by 
steaming  vegetables,  I  saw  one  of  our  gaiTct  party. 
I  moved  on  without  liis  seeing  me.  If  that  was  all 
bis  resolution  was  worth  I  pitied  his  weakness.  I 
was  sure  tbe  rest  of  us  would  feel  much  better  eat- 
ing our  nice  boiled  eggs  and  remaining  firm  in 
our  resolutions  of  economy.  Gaining  tbe  garret, 
I  found  aU  of  us  were  there  patiently  waiting  tbe 
motions  of  tbe  cook  except  the  recreant  member 
whom  I  bad  seen  through  the  restaurant  window. 
The  eggs  were  received  with  debght.      Prepara- 


HOME-MADE  "  HASR.'^  145 

tions  for  cooking  the  potatoes  which  had  arrived 
were  suspended,  and  the  eggs  were  at  once  put 
ui3on  the  stove  in  a  little  water,  and  the  happy 
party  now  felt  certain  of  having  something  good 
to  eat  in  five  minutes  at  furthest.  In  about  that 
time  the  eggs  were  pronounced  done,  and  as  they 
were  served  up  the  major  was  the  first  in  the  attack 
upon  them. 

"  Well,  I  will  be  hanged,"  said  he,  "  if  ever  I  saw 
eggs  cooked  as  hard  as  these  ai*e,"  and  he  tried  to 
cut  through  one  with  his  knife. 

"  By  Jove !"  and  "  Thunder !"  and  "  Oh !  murder !" 
came  in  quick  succession  from  all  sides.  Some  of 
the  eggs  had  chickens  in  them,  and  all  the  balance 
had  evidently  received  the  most  strenuous  efforts  of 
the  old  hen  to  hatch  them,  for  the  strong  me^Dhitic 
odor  diffused  in  the  atmosphere  certainly  did  not 
produce  a  very  agreeable  sensation  upon  our  nasal 
organs.  In  fact,  we  were  aU  obliged  to  leave  the 
room. 

Without  a  word  being  uttered,  and  straight  as  an 
arrow,  every  man  walked  rapidly  to  the  nearest 
restaurant,  and  soon  was  oblivious  to  the  j^angs  of 
hunger. 

The  next  day  there  was  a  coal-oil  stove  for  sale 
by  the  party. 

Not  finding  any  expedition  about  to  cross  the 
plains,  the  party  broke  up,  and  our  hero  returned 


146  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

to  New  York  to  take  a  steamer  for  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  and  thence  to  San  Francisco. 

Arriving  in  Xew  York  he  went  to  a  hotel  where 
he  was  confident  that  he  would  see  no  one  whom 
he  knew,  registered  under  an  assumed  name,  and 
the  next  day  was  on  his  way  to  'Frisco.  He  had 
fully  determined  to  let  the  imjjrcssiou  of  his  death 
remain  intact  until  he  should  return  at  some  future 
time  prepared  to  carry  out  the  i)lan  for  a  j^rand 
spiritual  materialization  scene.  How  well  lie  suc- 
ceeded in  this  will  be  sho^^^l  in  <lue  order.  AV^e 
have  now  to  follow  him  in  his  adventures  upon  the 
Pacific  coast  tlirough  what  he  describes  as  Ids  West- 
cm  "  struggles  for  hash." 


CHAPTER  XL 


TAKES    A   WALK. 


Arriving  in  San  Francisco,  it  was  necessary  to 
see  the  siglits,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Next  he  had 
to  "  do"  Sacramento,  after  which  he  determined  to  go 
straight  to  the  gokl  mines  of  Montana — those  pre- 
senting, in  his  opinion,  a  better  field  in  which  he 
could  display  his  talents  for  gaining  a  livelihood. 
Arrived  in  Plaeerville,  a  short  distance  from  Sacra- 
mento, he  began  to  tliink  it  was  time  to  look  at  his 
circumstances  in  a  very  serious  manner.  The  first 
thing  was  to  procure  a  good  dinner,  and  then  reflect 
and  determine  uj^on  his  course  of  action.  Counting 
his  money  after  paying  for  his  dinner,  he  found  he 
had  just  twelve  dollars  and  a  half  on  which  to  travel 
thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  the  distance  he 
would  have  to  go  before  reaching  his  objective 
point  in  Montana :  less  than  one  dollar  for  each  one 
hundred  miles ;  while  the  fare  by  stage,  the  only 
means  of  passenger  travel,  was  just  twenty -five 
cents  per  mile,  or  twenty-five  dollars  for  each  hun- 
dred miles,  and  meals  were  one  dollar  each  all  along 
the  route.     It  took  him  less  than  five  minutes  to 


148  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

make  np  liis  mind  to  r<.»ll  up  his  blankets  in  as  com- 
pact a  form  as  possible,  and  strap  tbem  on  liis  back, 
putting  inside  of  tbem  a  pound  or  two  of  dried  liab 
ibut,  and  two  pounds  of  crackei-s,  and  after  makin«j; 
an  arrangement  witli  the  ])roprietor  of  an  hotel  to 
take  care  of  bis  vabse,  lie  started  upon  liis  thirteen 
liuiKbvd  mile  walk  to  Montana.  At  the  start  be 
bad  to  cross  the  Sieri-a  Xevada  range  of  mountiuns, 
and  the  summit  of  these  was  covered  with  snow — 
the  stage  lines  here  exchanging  coaches  for  sleighs. 
"While  crossing  these  mountains  he  always  sougbt 
cover  for  the  night,  but  on  reaching  the  plains  of 
Nevada  he  generally  scooped  out  a  hollow  ])lacc  in 
the  deep,  dry,  an<l  albpervading  sand  of  that  desert 
country.  His  victuals  consisted  alm(»st  entirely  of 
such  concentrated  f^H.d  as  be  coulfj  buy  along  the 
route  and  carry  in  his  blankets  on  his  shoulder. 
lie  suiTered  at  times  from  the  want  of  water,  having 
frcjjuently  to  travel  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  over 
the  burning  sands  bef<jre  reacbing  a  place  where 
water  was  to  beobtiiined,  and  then  it  generally  was  of 
such  brackish  taste  and  contained  so  much  alkali 
that  live  minutes  afterward  he  was  as  thirsty  as 
ever.  The  deep  and  yielding  sand  made  walking 
terri]>ly  tiresome;  the  sand  would  penetrate  his 
shoes  and  Idister  his  feet  till  every  step  was  agony. 
In  this  condition  he  would  see  the  stage  with  four 
horses  dash  past  him,  and  oh !  how  he  then  would 


TAKES  A   WALK.  149 

wish  lie  liad  some  of  the  money  which,  at  differeut 
times,  he  had  so  foolishly  squandered,  and  could 
take  his  seat  in  that  coach.  "While  he  suffered  by 
the  heat  of  the  scorching  sun  by  day,  he  also  suf- 
fered with  the  cold  by  night,  and  often,  after  lying 
for  two  or  three  hours,  he  would  wake  up  chilled 
through ;  then  he  would  reach  out  with  his  hands 
and  haul  the  light  dry  sand  over  and  around  him. 
If  this  did  not  answer,  he  would  arise,  roll  up  his 
blankets  and  push  forward  for  a  few  miles  until  the 
exercise  of  walking  had  warmed  him  up  sufficiently, 
then  lie  would  repeat  the  attempt  to  sleep.  In  this 
manner  the  weary  days  passed  until  he  reached 
Salt  Lake  City  in  Utah.  There  he  succeeded  in 
selling  a  small  revolver  which  he  had  carried  with 
him  all  the  way  for  protection  against  robbers.  But 
as  his  cash  had  dwindled  down  to  less  than  two 
dollars,  he  concluded  that  the  fear  of  robbers  need 
not  keep  him  awake  nights,  even  if  he  had  no  re- 
volver. He  sold  it  for  eighteen  dollars,  and  then 
securing  cheap  board  in  a  humble  but  very  intelli- 
gent Mormon  family,  he  concluded  he  would  re- 
main awhile  in  that  beautiful  city  and  study  Mor- 
monism. 

The  Mormon  semi-annual  conference  was  in  ses- 
sion, and  holding  meetings  twice  daily.  These  our 
hero  attended  regularly.  The  Mormon  ladies  in 
the  house  where  he  resided  were  fully  competent  to 


150  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

discuss  religious  subjects  with  Lim,  and,  as  usual 
with  that  sex,  were  earnest  advocates  of  polygamy. 

"  I  am  surprised,"  said  Lockwell  to  them  one 
afternoon  just  after  he  had  returned  from  confer- 
ence meeting  and  as  they  were  all  sitting  in  the  cosy 
little  parlor,  "  I  am  suq^riscd  to  find  you  ladies  all 
in  favor  of  polygamy.  I  had  always  6U})j)osed  tliat 
the  advocates  of  that  peculiarity  in  your  religious 
system  were  confined  to  the  nuile  sex  exclusively." 

"  Why  should  they  be  ?  The  objections  to  more 
than  one  wife  I  do  not  consider  sound,  or  at  least 
will  not  hold  good  until  proj)erty  is  more  evenly 
divided.  You  have  in  many  parts  of  tlie  East  local- 
ities where  the  ladies  largely  i)redominate.  Your 
monugainic  laws  simi)ly  comj>el  suiue  of  these  ladies 
to  remain  single,  for  there  are  not  husbands  enough 
to  go  around"  (Lockwell  blushed  as  he  thought  these 
husbands  were  apt  to  "  go  around  "  rather  too  much 
as  it  was,  but  he  made  no  reply,  and  the  lady  con- 
tinued) ;  "  but  supposing  they  were  exactly  equal 
in  numbers,  is  not  a  man  who  is  worth  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  better  able  to  suj^port  and  protect 
a  dozen  ^vives,  and  bring  up  and  educate  fifty  chil- 
dren, than  a  pauper  is  to  do  the  same  with  one  wife 
and  two  children?  Suppose  you  ask  any  one  of 
the  thousands  oi  industrious  girls  who  are  just  eking 
out  a  miserable  existence  sewing  shirts  at  six  cents 
apiece  if  she  would  not  like  to  be  the  second,  third, 


TAKES  A   WALK.  151 

or  tenth  wife  of  souie  honorable  man  who  Hkes  her 
and  is  well  able  to  take  care  of  her,  and  if  she  would 
reply  in  the  negative  it  is  only  because  she  has  been 
taught  to  despise  such  a  position  and  liold  such  a 
person  in  contem])t.  But  now  let  the  laws  be 
changed,  and  the  customs  of  your  society  changed, 
so  that  a  second  or  tenth  wife  holds  just  as  honora- 
ble a  position  in  society,  and  tlien  she  would  gladly 
accept  the  position,  and  would  she  would  not  be 
far  better  off  ?  would  not  the  State  be  gainer  ?  and 
who  would  be  harmed  thereby  ?  The  dislike  to 
being  a  man's  second  or  tenth  livmg  wife  is  f omided 
upon  an  unreasoning  prejudice  which  is  the  result 
of  their  education,  and  education  can  also  eradicate 
it.  Again,  about  one  half  of  your  population  in  the 
great  city  of  New  York,  for  instance,  are  living  in 
tenement  houses,  and  a  very  large  proportion  of 
them  are  in  cramped  circumstances  to  say  the  least. 
Now  tell  me  if  you  think  these  children  who  have 
little  or  no  care  ;  running  in  the  streets ;  no  instruc- 
tion except  what  the  law  compels  them  to  get  at  the 
public  schools,  grow  up  to  be  better  citizens  than  if 
they  belonged  to  fathers  who  were  able  to  instruct 
and  care  for  them  and  to  see  them  well  started  in 
life,  even  though  their  mothers  were  second,  third, 
or  tenth  wives  ?  We  here,  both  women  and  men, 
believe  that  the  misery  of  your  great  cities  would  be 
immeasurably  relieved  if  your  marital  laws  were  so 


152  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

changed  as  to  allow  tliose  who  were  able  to  bring 
up  and  make  good  citizens  of  fifty  children  tct  do 
so,  and  those  who  could  only  bring  \\\)  children  in 
the  gutter  should  not  be  allowed  to  have  any." 

The  blushes  on  the  countenance  of  our  unsojDliis- 
ticated  friend  during  this  hiu*angue  were  painful  to 
witness,  but  he  stammered  out  the  in(|uiry,  "  Theu 
you  would  not  allow  a  poor  man  to  marry  at  all  f 

"  Not  till  the  State  was  satisfied  that  he  could 
make  good  citizens  of  his  cliildren,  A  person's 
character  depends  almost  wholly  U])<)n  his  early 
education  and  surroundings,  and  the  infiuences 
brought  to  bear  ui)on  him  while  liis  mind  is  form- 
ing ;  if  all  tliese  are  bad,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he 
will  make  a  bad  citizen.  If  hunger  compels  a 
youth  to  steal  against  lys  inchnation  he  will  soon 
liecome  a  voluntary  thief.  No!  no!  You  must 
either  distribute  your  property  in  great  cities  more 
evenly,  or  you  must  rearrange  your  marriage  laws." 

"'But,"  said  Lockwell,  "  if  you  allow  a  man  to 
have  two  wives  you  must  also  allow  a  woman  to 
have  two  husbands." 

"  That  by  no  means  follows.  It  is  generally  the 
man  who  earns  the  money  and  has  the  property, 
and  he  it  is  who  has  to  furnish  the  support  and 
protection,  and  the  number  of  his  wives  should  be 
regulated  just  according  to  the  amount  of  that  sup- 
port and  protection.    Besides  there  is  a  larger  num- 


TAKES  A   WALK.  153 

ber  of  women  tlian  men  in  almost  every  country. 
But  nature  lias  settled  that  question,  for  a  woman 
can  never  be  mother  of  more  children  than  one 
man  may  well  be  father  of,  but  one  man  may 
well  be  father  of  as  many  children  as  a  dozen 
or  twenty  women  can  have." 

"  Almost  thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Mormon," 
replied  our  hero. 

The  ladies  taking  part  in  this  conversation  were 
the  first  and  third  wives  of  a  Mormon  merchant  of 
the  city — the  chief  sj^eaker  being  the  latter. 

What  struck  Lockwell  very  forcibly  in  this  place 
was  the  apparent  moraUty  of  the  inhabitants.  In 
every  other  city  of  similar  size  in  the  United  States 
that  he  had  visited,  dozens  of  houses  of  ill-fame 
might  be  seen  on  every  hand — here  not  one.  Less 
drunkenness  was  observable  here  than  elsewhere. 
Modesty,  industry,  and  quietness  were  the  charac- 
teristics of  every  class. 

There  were  many  Gentiles  here,  most  of  whom 
came  with  the  idea  that  the  Mormon  women  were 
no  better  than  the  thousands  of  street-walkers  that 
they  had  left  behind  them  in  their  own  cities,  and 
this  very  erroneous  idea  was  the  cause  of  the  many 
difficulties  occurring  between  the  two  classes,  and 
was  really  the  princij^al,  if  not  the  only  cause,  of 
the  antipathy  manifested  by  the  Mormons  toward 
foreigners.      He  noticed  invariably  that  when  a 


154  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Gentile  resided  for  any  length  of  time  among 
them,  and  treated  their  women  with  resi)ect,  he 
need  have  no  fear  of  molestation.  It  was  while 
Lock  well  was  stopping  there  that  a  Gentile  by  the 
name  of  Copi)ei'tield  was  nnirdered — shot  just  as 
he  was  entering  the  door  of  his  hotel  in  the  early 
evening,  and  instantly  killed,  undoubtedly  hy  a 
Morman,  hut  it  was  just  after  dark  and  tlie  man 
who  tired  the  shot  was  not  seen.  Immediately 
there  was  great  excitement  among  tlie  (Jentiles, 
many  of  whom  rushed  aronnd  the  stivets  with 
drawn  revolvers,  asking  if  any  more  of  their  num- 
ber had  been  assassinated,  and  whether  there  was 
not  some  danger  of  a  general  mitssacre,  etc.  Cor- 
respondents the  next  day  wrote  letters  to  tlie  East- 
ern press  stating  the  fact,  and  speaking  of  it  as  a 
cold-blooded  and  causeless  murder — the  result  of 
religious  fanaticism  on  the  i)art  of  the  Mormons. 
Now  the  facts,  as  our  hero  fully  ascertained,  were 
that  the  murdered  man  had  grossly  insulted  a 
^lormon  woman  who  was  a  stranger  to  him,  but 
whom  he  knew  was  the  third  living  wife  of  her 
husband.  She  at  once  reported  the  language  to 
her  husband,  who,  of  course,  res2)ected  her  as  much 
as  his  first  wife,  and  felt  bound  to  give  her  the 
same  protection,  and  simply  did  what  any  Eastern 
husband  would  have  done  to  the  insulter  of  his 
wife — he  shot  him. 


TAKES  A   WALK.  155 

After  spending  three  pleasant  weeks  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  and  his  funds  running  very  low,  he 
thought  it  time  to  push  forward  again  toward 
Montana. 

Greatly  refreshed  and  invigorated  by  his  rest, 
he  resumed  liis  dried  fish  and  cracker  diet  upon 
the  road.  lie  had  about  four  hundred  miles  to 
go  yet  before  reaching  his  objective  point,  Vir- 
ginia City,  Montana.  He  had  no  acquaintances 
in  that  country,  but  had  made  up  his  mind  to  try 
his  fortunes  in  the  gold  mines  near  that  place. 
He  met  with  no  incident  upon  the  trip  worth 
recording,  and  arrived  in  the  streets  of  Virginia 
City  one  evening  just  after  nightfall,  a  total 
stranger  in  a  strange  laud,  and  with  just  seventy- 
five  cents  in  his  pocket,  and  here  all  meals  were 
a  dollar,  and  all  lodgings  the  same.  He  walked 
slowly  up  the  main  street  of  the  town  gazing 
with  ever-increasing  longing  at  the  good  things 
displayed  in  the  windows  of  the  bakeries  and 
stores.  -  Footsore  and  weary,  he  had  no  very  defi- 
nite idea  as  to  where  he  should  go  or  what  he 
should  do  immediately.  Stopping  a  few  minutes 
to  look  at  some  cakes  and  pies  to  be  seen  in  the 
window  of  a  bakery,  he  felt  a  decided  hankering 
after  a  particular  pie  he  saw  there.  With  only 
seventy-five  cents  in  his  pocket,  and  not  acquainted 
with  a  soul  in  the  whole  Territory,  he  was  not  sure 


156  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

that  it  was  liis  best  financial  policy  to  invest  any- 
thing in  luxuries.  Yet  those  who  liave  never  been 
deprived  of  their  regular  variety  at  meals  cannot 
imagine  what  an  intense  desire  arises  for  what 
is  called  in  Western  parlance  a  "  square  meal "  when 
one  has  long  been  confined  to  any  one  article  of 
diet  alone.  lie  entered  the  shop  and  timidly  asked 
the  jirice  of  that  pie,  fearing  it  might  be  a  dollar, 
everything  was  so  dear. 

"Seventy-five  cents,"  said  the  baker. 

"Hand  it  out,"  said  our  hero.  The  i)ie  eaten, 
he  felt  in  good  spirits,  notwithstanding  he  was  in 
a  strange  place  at  night,  and  not  a  single  cent  in 
his  pocket.  He  walked  on  till  he  came  where  two 
hotels  were  located,  one  on  each  side  of  the  street. 
He  concluded  they  would  be  naturally  in  opposition, 
and  consequently  reasonable,  and  just  now  he 
wanted  a  vcrij  reasonable  hotel.  lie  entered  the 
first,  and  going  up  to  the  proprietor  who  was 
behind  the  bar  observed  : 

"  AVell,  sir,  I  have  come  to  stop  with  you." 

"  All  right,  glad  to  see  you ;  let  me  take  your 
blankets." 

"  Hold  on,  ray  friend,  I  have  not  got  one  cent 
in  the  world  to  pay  you  with.  And  now  if  these 
terms  don't  suit  you,  I  will  go  straight  across  and 
patronize  the  opposition  hotel  across  the  road." 

"  "Well,"  said  the  hotel  keeper,  gazing  curiously 


TAKES  A  WALK  157 

upon  the  newcomer,  "please  explain  yourself  a 
little  more  fully." 

"Certainly.  I  have  come  to  this  Territory  to 
work  in  the  mines.  I  want  to  stop  here  all  night. 
I  have  got  no  money  now,  but  as  soon  as  I  get 
some  I  will  pay  you,  if  you  are  willing  I  should 
stay  in  that  way." 

The  other  looked  him  over  for  a  few  seconds, 
and  then  said  that  although  he  did  not  generally 
do  business  in  that  way  he  guessed  he  could  re- 
main. 

The  next  day  Lock  well  sought  and  obtained  em- 
ployment in  a  quartz-mill  about  twenty-live  miles 
away,  and  with  the  first  money  he  earned  he  re- 
turned and  paid  his  hotel  bill. 


CHAPTEE  XII. 


Y  A  T.  r  A  B  L  E      T  U  T  P  I E  8. 


He  remained  in  tliat  vicinity  Init  a  few  weeks, 
and  tlien  t<»(»k  another  walk  of  one  lmn(lre<l  and 
thirty  miles  to  the  celebrated  gold  phuwr  mines  or 
gnlch  of  Last  Chance. 

Now  tlie  workings  of  gold  placer  diggings  are 
not  so  generally  understood  as  tliose  of  quartz 
mines,  and  at  the  risk  of  being  tedious  we  will 
give  a  very  brief  description  of  the  way  they  are 
managed, 

Wliat  are  known  as  placer  or  gulch  diggings  are 
those  mines  where  the  gold  is  distributed  through 
gravel  and  sand  in  fine  particles,  ranging  in  size 
from  those  which  are  so  tine  as  not  to  be  distin- 
guished by  the  naked  eye,  and  these  are  called 
flour  gold,  to  any  sized  nuggets,  the  usual  size 
being  al>out  as  large  as  iron  tilings,  or  where  it  is 
what  is  known  as  scale  gold,  about  the  size  of  a 
pin  head  and  very  thin. 

To  separate  these  different  kinds  of  gold  from 
the  sand  and  gravel  through  which  it  is  distril> 
uted  is,  of  course,  the  object  of  all  the  different 


VALUABLE  PUPPIES.  159 

"  washings."  .Until  these  later  years,  when,  where 
practicable,  the  "hydraulic"  has  superseded  aU 
other  methods,  the  sluicebox  was  the  most  com- 
mon and  satisfactory  method  of  washing  the 
gravel.  This  consisted  of  a  long  narrow  box,  or 
succession  of  boxes,  say  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet 
long,  and  twelve  to  twenty  inches  wide,  and  about 
six  inches  high.  All  along  the  bottom  of  this  box 
are  placed  what  are  called  "  riffles,"  and  consist  of 
anything  presenting  sufficient  irregularities  to  catch 
and  hold  the  gold  as  the  water  carried  the  dirt 
down  and  along  over  the  bottom  of  the  box. 
These  riffles  very  frequently  consist  of  a  false 
bottom  full  of  holes,  or  else  slats  placed  in  either 
crosswise  or  lengthwise.  When  the  dirt,  gravel,  or 
sand  is  thrown  in  these  boxes  with  a  head  of  water 
passing  through,  the  dirt  is  dissolved  and  the  gravel 
and  sand  are  carried  along  by  the  water,  but  the 
gold  being  the  heaviest  clings  the  closest  to  the 
bottom  and  is  the  first  to  be  arrested  by  the  "  rif- 
fles." In  the  evening  most  of  the  water  is  turned 
off ;  the  false  bottom  is  raised  and  the  gold  care- 
fully brushed  and  washed  together  down  to  a  pan 
at  the  bottom. 

In  the  mines  to  which  LockweU  was  now  direct- 
ing his  steps  the  "  pay  dirt,"  that  is,  the  only  gravel 
that  would  pay  to  wash,  was  found  about  eleven 
feet  beneath  the  surface;  eleven  feet  of  the  top 


160  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

dirt  bad  to  be  removed,  shoveled  out,  and  wheeled 
away  before  they  reached  this  pay  dirt,  and  that 
was  only  about  three  feet  thick.  So  this  thin 
streak  of  pay  dirt  under  so  much  that  had  to  be 
removed  must  be  very  rich  in  order  to  i)ay  ex- 
penses, and  it  was  very  rich ;  about  twenty  millions 
of  dollars  were  taken  out  of  this  one  gidch  alone. 

On  the  ground  where  Lockwell  went  to  work 
the  manner  of  conducting  operations  was  about  as 
follows :  A  piece  of  the  ground  some  twenty  feet 
square  was  "  stripped."  All  the  top  ground  to  the 
depth  of  eleven  feet  was  dug  up  and  carried  away 
in  wheelbarrows.  After  this  pit  reached  a  few  feet 
in  depth  these  had  to  be  run  up  steep  planks  to  the 
top.  When  all  the  dirt  was  removed,  saving  only 
about  three  feet  of  hard,  compact  dirt  and  gravel  at 
the  bottom,  the  sluiceboxcs  were  arranged  to  cross 
the  top  of  this  pit  with  a  decline  of  about  one  inch 
to  the  foot  to  give  a  free  flow  of  the  water. 

A  scaffold  was  then  put  up  half  way  between  the 
boxes  and  the  gravel,  and  onto  this  scaffold  was  first 
thrown  the  gravel,  thence  into  the  boxes. 

Our  hero  desired  to  get,  first,  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  this  way  of  mining,  and  next  to  increase 
the  size  of  his  not  very  plethoric  pocketbook,  and 
to  accomplish  both  purposes  he  was  resolved  to  go 
to  work  as  an  ordinary  laborer,  the  usual  wages  be- 
ing about  five  dollars  per  day.  But  here  he  encoun- 


VALUABLE  PUPPLES.  161 

tered  a  difficulty.  The  mining  district  was  overrun 
with  men  seeking  work ;  the  work  was  manual  la- 
bor of  the  most  tiresome  kind.  Only  few  men  who 
had  done  no  manual  labor  of  any  kind  could  stand 
it  longer  than  a  few  hours.  Fifty  men  were  at  all 
times  standing  near  waiting  for  a  chance  to  work, 
and,  as  often  happened,  when  one  man  ceased  to 
work  up  to  the  mark,  and  was  told  he  could  leave, 
a  dozen  sprang  to  take  his  place. 

Lockwell  began  to  think  that  his  "  struggle  for 
hash  "  in  this  place  was  going  to  be  a  very  difficult 
one.  Many  men  looking  for  work  were  actually 
suffering  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  really 
hungry.  Two  days  he  thus  spent  in  looking  for 
something  to  do,  but  in  vain.  The  prospect  was 
gloomy.  His  money  was  again  running  very  short : 
something  must  be  done  at  once.  The  third  morn- 
ing he  went  along  the  gulch  until  he  came  to  where 
they  were  stripping  a  pit  and  had  got  down  with  it 
some  seven  or  eight  feet,  and  wheeling  the  dirt  up 
the  steep  plank  was  extremely  tiresome.  Going 
into  this  pit  he  asked  the  man  in  charge  if  he  did 
not  wish  to  employ  another  good  hand.  "Why, 
no,"  was  the  answer.  "  I  have  now  all  the  good 
men  I  can  work  to  advantage  and  you  don't  look 
like  a  man  who  is  accustomed  to  hard  work,  and  if 
not  you  had  better  not  try  this  kind  of  labor ;  you 
would  be  compelled  to  give  up  before  you  were  at 


162  /iV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

it  two  hours.  We  pay  high  wages,  and  the  season 
is  so  short  that  we  are  compelled  to  work  our  men 
to  the  utmost  limit  of  endurance.  Besides,  there 
are  so  many  here  now  looking  for  work  that  we  can 
take  our  pick  and  have  none  ])ut  the  best ;  old  min- 
ers, who  can  stand  the  hardest  kind  of  labor." 

"  I  notice,"  said  Lockwell,  "  that  you  have  two 
men  with  each  wheelbarrow ;  now  there  is  a  wheel- 
l)arrow  with  only  one  man  connected  with  it;  you 
had  better  put  me  to  work  there  and  give  me  a 
trial." 

"Ko,  it  would  be  useless.  That  man  with  his 
wheelbarrow  is  really  more  than  I  can  work  to  ad- 
vantage, but  as  he  has  worked  for  me  a  long  time, 
and  is  a  good  man,  I  don't  wish  to  discharge  him." 

"  Then  I  will  go  there  and  work  with  him  for 
nothing ;  I  want  the  exercise,  and  I  won't  charge 
you  anything  for  the  privilege." 

The  other  laughed  at  an  idea  so  novel  as  a  man 
working  for  nothing,  but,  of  course,  could  not  re- 
fuse his  consent,  and  Lockwell  went  to  work.  Two 
men  were  working  with  each  barrow  ;  they  would 
use  their  pickaxes  and  shovel  to  fill  a  barrow,  when 
one  would  wheel  it  out  and  the  other  would  be  con- 
stantly loosening  up  the  gravel  with  the  pick  until 
the  return  of  the  barrow,  when  both  would  again 
load  it,  and  the  man  who  took  it  out  before  would 
I'emain  behind  to  loosen  the  gravel.     In  this  way 


VALUABLE  PUPPLES.  163 

tliere  was  no  chance  for  rest,  not  a  moment  could 
be  snatched  for  the  relief  of  his  constantly  strained 
muscles.  The  first  few  hours  were  gone  through 
with  comjDaratively  well,  but  before  noon  the  fa- 
tigue was  so  great  it  seemed  impossible  to  con- 
tinue, but  still  he  kept  at  it  by  mere  force  of  will. 
Oh,  if  he  could  only  rest  for  just  five  minutes,  wliat 
would  he  not  have  given.  But  his  pride  and  will 
kept  him  going  till  after  eleven  o'clock ;  then  he 
knew  by  the  sun  he  had  less  than  one  hour  to  keep 
going  till  the  recess  for  dinner  came — from  12  till 
1.  lie  kept  glancing  up  at  the  sun,  and  it  seemed 
as  though  it  would  never  reach  the  meridian. 

Noon  came  at  last,  however,  and  he  was  soon  at 
the  log  hut  where  he  was  living,  and  then  had  to 
fry  his  own  bacon,  which,  with  some  bread  and 
nothing  else,  constituted  his  dinner.  One  o'clock 
came  all  too  quickly  and  he  was  back  at  his  work. 
The  afternoon  passed  far  worse  than  the  morning. 
The  eye  of  the  "  Boss  "  was  constantly  upon  him. 
Nothing  but  his  excessive  pride  and  determined 
will  kept  him  up.  No  work  so  fatiguing  had  ever 
fallen  to  his  lot  before.  When  the  time  to  quit 
came,  at  six  o'clock,  he  could  only  just  stand ;  his 
hands  were  terribly  blistered  and  raw  all  across  his 
palms.  But  not  one  indication  of  his  sufferings 
would  he  allow  to  be  seen  by  any  individual — par- 
ticularly the  Boss.     And  when  he  passed  that  iudi- 


1G4  ZiY  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

vidua!  after  quitting  work  he  (Loekwell)  remarked 
to  liim,  "  Do  you  call  this  hard  work  ?  "Wliy,  man, 
it  is  nothing ;  scarcely  enough  work  about  it  for  ex- 
ercise. I  used  to  work  harder  than  this  l^efore  I 
was  fifteen  years  old,  and  when  I  was  on  my  father's 
farm." 

"Well,"  said  the  Boss,  "young  man,  you  have 
earned  your  five  dollars  to-day,  and  you  will 
get  it,  too,  and  if  you  wish  to  continue  on  the  same 
way  each  day  you  can  do  so."  And  he  did.  Sev- 
eral weeks  he  kept  at  it  without  flinching,  though  it 
was  fearfully  hard.  He  says  in  that  portion  of  his 
MSS.  describing  these  scenes,  "  The  work  got  a  lit- 
tle easier  as  I  became  used  to  it,  aJthough  I  never 
got  so  I  hankered  after  it." 

Thus  he  became  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of 
placer  mining,  which  was  to  become  his  jirofession 
afterward.  A  few  weeks  of  this  hard  life  passed 
and  he  had  secured  enough  money  to  justify  him 
in  looking  about  for  some  ground  to  work  upon  his 
own  account. 

One  Sunday,  while  in  a  crowded  saloon  watching 
the  manipulations  of  a  score  or  more  of  professional 
gamblers  who  were  scattered  around  at  as  many  lit- 
tle tables,  playing  their  nefarious  practices  upon  all 
who  were  foolish  enough  to  risk  their  money  upon 
these  games  of  chance,  and  the  name  of  such  was 
legion,  he  overheard  two  men  talldng  as  follows : 


VALUABLE  PUPPIES.  165 

Said  tlie  first :  "  I  wish  I  could  remain  and  work 
it  for  it  is  paying  me  well,  but  you  see  that  under 
the  circumstances  it  is  absolutely  necessary  for  me 
to  go  East." 

"Yes,  I  know  it,"  replied  his  companion.  "I 
wish  I  did  not  have  already  more  ground  than  I  can 
work  I  would  quickly  take  it  off  of  your  hands,  for 
I  know  that  a  man  can  do  well  with  the  ground, 
and,  perhaps,  make  a  small  fortune." 

^'  Well,  I  will  dispose  of  the  ground  to-morrow 
for  some  price,  as  I  must  leave  at  once  for  the 
States"  (for  so  they  called  going  East). 

Our  hero  thinking  that  this  might  be  the  very 
chance  for  which  he  was  looking,  approached  the 
last  speaker  and  asked  him  what  it  was  he  had  for 
sale.  The  man  answered,  "  Only  a  very  small  side- 
hill  claim,  but  it  is  very  good,  averaging  me  about 
twenty-five  dollars  a  day  over  and  above  all  ex- 
penses. But  I  have  just  received  word  from  the 
States  that  my  wife  is  very  ill,  and  I  must  start  at 
once  if  I  wish  to  see  her  alive,  so  I  have  to  sacri- 
fice this  piece  of  ground  and  start  at  once.  A  week 
ago  a  man  offered  me  twelve  hundred  dollars  for 
the  claim,  but  then  I  had  not  got  this  sad  news, 
and,  of  course,  would  not  take  any  such  figure  for 
it ;  now,  when  I  have  got  to  sell,  T  can't  find  that 
man,  he  has  gone  away,  and  everyone  else  who  has 
got  any  money  has  also  got  all  the  ground  they  cai' 
work,  so  I  must  take  just  what  I  can  get." 


166  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  What  will  you  take  for  it,  then  ?" 

"  As  I  said,  stranger,  I  must  sell  for  pst  what  I 
can  get  to-morrow.  Come  down  in  the  morning 
and  prospect  it,  and  yon  will  see  just  what  it  is." 

This  was  agreed  to,  and  the  next  morning  Lock- 
well,  following  the  directions  of  the  miner,  arrived 
at  the  claim  just  before  the  other  came  up ;  then 
they  proceeded  to  "prospect"  it.  This  process 
consists  in  taking  an  iron  pan  about  the  size  of 
an  ordinary  milk  pan,  and  filling  it  with  the  pay 
dirt,  carefully  wash  it  down,  or  "  pan  it  out,"  as  it 
is  called,  until  only  the  fine  particles  of  gold  are 
left  therein,  and  by  these  he  can  tell  about  how 
the  dirt  will  pay  to  work.  Lockwell  had  pros- 
pected a  great  deal  where  he  had  been  at  work, 
and  was  a  good  judge  of. such  matters.  "Here," 
said  the  owner,  "  where  you  see  this  strata  of 
gravel  is  the  pay  dirt.  There  is  only  a  small  por- 
tion uncovered,  but  if  you  will  take  this  pan  and 
try  some  of  it  you  can  tell  something  about  what 
the  ground  is  worth."  This  was  done,  and  a  splen- 
did prospect  obtained.  The  ground  yielded  a  fine 
result  in  coarse  gold,  and  must  be  worth  many 
hundred  dollars.  Alas!  our  hero  only  had  about 
one  hundred  dollars  to  offer  for  it,  and  he  did  not 
think  this  would  be  accepted  ;  but  he  made  the  of- 
fer, at  the  same  time  saj-ing  it  was  all  he  had  to 
give.     ""Well,   stranger,  as  I  told  you  before,   I 


VALUABLE  PUPPIES.  167 

must  dispose  of  it,  and  now  I  will  tell  you  what  I 
will  do,  and  it  will  be  almost  the  same  as  giving 
you  the  property  :  give  me  the  hundred  dollars,  and 
as  you  look  like  an  honest  man,  I  will  give  you  my 
address,  and  if  you  will  promise  to  pay  me  the 
first  thousand  dollars  you  take  out  from  the 
ground  over  and  above  all  expenses,  and  send  it 
East  to  me,  the  ground  is  yours,  and  I  am  off  at 
once  for  the  East."  The  offer  was  quickly  taken, 
the  money  paid,  and  the  transfer  made.  Our  hero 
now  found  himself  the  owner  of  a  mine  which  he 
had  calculated  would  yield  him  at  least  twenty-five 
dollars  a  day  profit,  so  that  in  less  than  two 
months  he  would  have  his  mine  all  paid  for,  and 
after  that  he  would  have  the  profits  of  the  ground 
clear  for  himself,  perhaps  for  years.  He  was  sat- 
isfied that  his  "struggles  for  hash"  had  ended, 
Visions  of  a  brown-stone  front  in  'New  York,  with 
a  nice  little  cottage  by  the  sea,  began  to  flit  across 
his  brain ;  also  a  nice  little  wife,  for  he  began  to 
think  that  a  wife  would  be  a  good  thing  with  a 
brown  stone :  would  set  it  off  to  advantage.  Then 
in  the  summer  cottage,  too,  there  she  would  come 
in  good.  That  night  he  lay  awake  trying  to  think 
and  decide  which  of  his  eligible  acquaintances  he 
should  select.  When  he  fell  asleep  he  dreamed 
that  he  had  acquired  half  a  dozen  more  claims, 
all    paying   him   enormously.     Then   he   found  a 


168  11^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

quartz  ledge  containing  six  inches  of  solid  gold 
encased  in  a  wall  of  pure  eilver  a  foot  thick  on 
each  side.  lie  married  Queen  Victoria  and  built 
her  a  palace  of  solid  gold.  "When  he  awoke  it  was 
time  to  fry  his  bacon  and  get  to  work  ;  the  two 
otlier  men  whom  he  iiad  hired  would  be  tliere 
awaiting  him.  Ihit  lie  was  on  time,  and  they  all 
three  set  to  work  witli  a  will.  He  liad  gone  in 
debt  for  some  tools  and  other  necessary  articles, 
and  had  only  just  ten  dollar.s  with  which  he  was 
to  pay  his  men  their  wages  at  night.  That  night 
he  cleaned  up  his  little  shiiceboxes,  expecting  to 
get  aboat  fifty  dolhu-s,  and  got  just  seventy-five 
cents!  A  dark  sus])icion  crossed  his  mind;  he 
seized  liis  pan  ;uul  prospected  the  ground  once 
more.  It  was  as  lie  ex]K*cted  :  he  could  get  scarce 
a  color  of  gold ;  the  ground  was  worthless,  and  had 
been  "  salted  "  on  him.  lie  had  been  deceived  ; 
his  money  was  gone,  and  he  had  a])solutely  noth- 
ing to  show  for  it !  How  quickly  the  brown-stone 
front  and  pretty  wife  visions  were  dissipated,  and 
in  their  place  rose  the  stern  reality  of  renewed 
hard  labor  with  blistered  hands  in  the  pit  again, 
if  he  should  be  lucky  enough  to  get  his  place  Ijack 
once  more  !  The  operation  of  '"  salting  "  consists  in 
sprinkling  a  little  gold  dust  on  the  gravel  that  an 
intended  purchaser  would  be  likely  to  pan  out,  and 
thus   deceive  him  in  regard  to  the  worth  of  the 


VALUABLE  PUPPIES.  169 

ground.  It  is  in  tlie  same  way  that  many  a  worth- 
less piece  of  oil  land  has  been  sold  in  Pennsylvania 
— by  pouring  oil  down  a  well  in  process  of  sinking, 
and  then  claiming  to  have  struck  oil. 

Our  friend's  "struggle  for  hash"  had  recom- 
menced in  earnest. 

Two  days  after  the  discovery  of  the  swindle  that 
had  been  perpetrated  upon  him  Lockwell  saw  the 
same  man  who  had  sold  him  the  ground  just 
emerging  from  a  saloon,  where  he  had  evidently 
been  spending  some  of  Lockwell's  hard-earned  dol- 
lars for  rum.  When  he  saw  Lockwell  he  ap- 
proached him  with  a  grin  upon  his  face,  and 
said: 

"Well,  stranger,  don't  you  think  you  could 
make  me  a  small  payment  on  account  of  that  thou- 
sand dollars  from  the  net  profits  of  what  you  have 
taken  out  of  the  claim  ?" 

The  man's  good-humored  assurance  struck  Lock- 
well  in  such  a  ludicrous  light  that  he  burst  out 
laughing,  and  when  the  man  insisted  that  he  should 
go  in  and  take  a  drink  with  him,  said  : 

"  I  will,  on  condition  that  you  answer  me  two 
questions  truly." 

"Forty,  stranger,  forty,  if  you  like;  now  fire 
away ;  but  first  nominate  your  liquid  poison,  for  it 
may  be  dry  work." 

"  First,  tell  me  how  is  that  very  estimable  lady. 


170  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

your  wife,  wlio  was  so  sick  the  otlier  day  that  yon 
were  afraid  you  would  never  see  her  again  alive  V 

"Well,  you  will  observe,  stranger,  that  I  sud- 
denly happened  to  think  that  before  I  could  iK>ssi- 
bly  get  to  her  she  would  be  either  dead  or  well ;  in 
the  latter  ca.se  she  would  not  need  me,  and  in  the 
former  case  I  would  not  need  her,  so  what  was  the 
use  of  my  going?  Queer  I  never  thonght  of  it  be- 
fore, wasn't  it  T' 

"Yes,  it  was  queer  you  never  thought  of  it  till 
after  you  sold  your  claim.  But  I  will  not  take  ad- 
vantage of  you.  You  may  have  your  claim  back 
for  the  same  price  I  paid  you  for  it." 

"  Give  us  your  paw,  stranger,"'  exclaimed  the 
miner  enthusiastically,  extending  his  hand ;  "  tip 
us  your  bunch  of  ^vcs.  I  would  scarcely  have  ex- 
pected to  find  such  sentiments  from  a  pilgrim ; 
they  would  do  honor  to  the  oldest  miner  in  the 
place.  Here,  barkeeper,  set  'em  up  once  more  in 
honor  of  the  noble  sentiments  of  this  2>ilgi'i"»- 
But,  stranger,  I  never  go  back  on  a  bargain ;  tlio 
claim  is  y GUI's,  and  you  must  keep  it.  I  would 
not  go  back  on  a  bargain  I  had  once  made ;  no, 
not  if  it  cost  me  a  leg," 

"  So  I  supposed,"  said  Lockwell  sadly.  ^  The  next 
question  I  want  to  ask  you  is,  Where  is  the  man 
who  offered  you  twelve  hundred  dollars  for  that 
ground  i     I  would  like  to  find  him  just  now." 


VALUABLE  PUPPIES.  171 

"  Don't  know,  stranger,  don't  know ;  and  if  I 
were  you,  pard,  I  wouldn't  spend  much  time 
a-looking  him  up.  You  see  the  fact  was  about  this 
way:  One  day  while  I  was  busy  on  my  claim 
along  passes  a  man  with  two  pups,  a-leading  one 
and  carrying  the  other  in  his  arms.  When  he  sees 
me,  says  he,  '  How  much  will  you  take  for  your 
claim,  pard  V  Says  I,  'How  much  will  you  give?' 
Says  he,  '  These  two  pups.'  '  How  much  are  they 
worth  ? '  says  I.  '  Six  hundred  dollars  apiece,'  says 
he.  So  you  sec,  stranger,  twice  six  hundred  dollars 
is  twelve  hundred !" 


CHAPTEE  Xm. 


THE     INDIAN     MASSACEE. 


He  resnmed  bis  old  place  at  hard  labor,  and  re- 
tained it  for  many  weeks.  At  last  tbe  man  for 
wliom  be  was  working  took  bim  into  jiartnersbip, 
and  tbey  togetber  took  large  contracts  for  stripping 
ground  in  tlie  mines,  and  were  very  successful, 
clearing  several  tbousand  dollars  apiece.  As  winter 
came  on — a  season  in  wbicb  no  work  could  be  done 
in  tbe  mines — and  be  would  bave  to  go  somewbere 
to  pass  tbe  frozen. montbs,  be  resolved  to  return  to 
New  York  and  put  in  practice,  if  possible,  bis  long- 
contemplated  plan  of  baving  a  great  spiritual  seance 
in  wbicb  be  sbould  materialize  to  tbe  view  of  bis 
two  very  dear  friends  in  New  York  city.  We  find 
bim  late  in  tbe  autumn  leaving  Montana  by  way  of 
tbe  Missouri  River,  witb  a  few  tbousand  dollars  in 
drafts,  and  in  a  flat  boat  containing  about  tbirty 
men.  Tbis  boat  bad  been  built  by  tbemselves 
away  up  on  tbe  beadwaters  of  navigation  (Fort 
Benton),  and  was  simply  a  flat  box  witb  tbe  sides 
about  two  feet  bigb  and  tbirty  feet  long  by  eigbt 
feet  broad ;  in  tbis  boat  tbey  started  to  float  down 


TSE  INDIAN  MASSACRE.  173 

witli  the  cuiTent,  assisted  also  by  oars,  a  distance  of 
some  two  thousand  miles  to  Omaha,  Nebraska,  their 
final  point  of  debarkation.  At  that  time  three 
fourths  of  the  route  was  through  a  total  wilderness 
inhabited  by  hostile  Indians,  who  already  had  killed 
many  men  attempting  the  same  feat.  It  was  a 
foolhardy  attempt,  and  bitterly  did  they  rue  their 
boldness  and  lack  of  discretion  in  at  least  not  pro- 
viding better  means  of  defence ;  the  sides  of  the 
boat  being  only  of  one-inch  board  and  only  two 
feet  higli  left  the  occupants  wholly  at  the  mercy  of 
any  enemy  who  might  remain  hidden  in  the  bush 
ujDon  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  who  might  continue 
concealed  while  traveling  from  point  to  point  as 
they  followed  the  boat,  and  could  pick  off  one  after 
another  till  all  would  be  massacred.  Lockwell  at 
first  sight  of  the  boat  observed  and  commented  upon 
these  dangers,  but  as  he  was  among  a  class  of  men 
who  laughed  at  all  kinds  of  danger,  he  forbore 
making  any  furtlier  remarks  thereon.  They  started, 
and  for  five  hundred  miles  they  had  a  very  pleasant 
country  to  pass  through.  "Well  provided  with  all 
the  necessaries  for  such  a  trip,  they  would  land  to 
do  their  cooking,  make  their  coffee,  and  boil  the 
potatoes,  but  all  the  cooking  was  done  morning  and 
evening  to  prevent  delay.  Enough  cold  cooked 
victuals  were  carried  aboard  in  the  morning  to  do 
for  the  midday  meal.     Most  always  a  good  sheltered 


174  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

spot  was  found  for  their  camp  at  niglit,  and  not  un- 
freqiiently  a  good  supply  of  game,  tliat  formed  a 
very  acceptable  addition  to  their  larder,  was  secured 
by  means  of  the  arms  with  which  each  passenger 
was  well  supplied.     Taking  turns  at  the  oars,  of 
which  tliey  had  two  pair,  they  propelled  the  un- 
gainly craft  ahead  of  the  current,  which   flowed 
about  four  miles  an  hour,  and  altogether  they  would 
make  about  seventy-five  miles  a  day  of  ten  hours. 
One  evening,  just  after  dusk,  they  were  still  on  the 
river,  not  having  passed  any  place  which  offered  a 
very  tempting  campground,  and  the  evening  was 
very  pleasant,  when  they  heard  some  splashing  in 
the  water  directly  ahead  of  them.     Instantly  the 
thoughts  of  all  were  on  the  Indians  which  were 
known  to  be  in  that  vicinity,  and  every  man's  hand 
was  upon  his  firearms.     But  as  they  drew  closer  to 
the  object  of  interest,  they  quickly  saw  that  it  was 
the  head  of  a  buffalo  who  was  trying  to  cross  the 
river  right  ahead  of  them.     To  turn  their  unwieldy 
craft  and  pursue  the  monster  was  now  the  object  of 
all.     A  few  vigorous  strokes  of  the  oars  brought  it 
close  up  to  the  hairy,  matted  head  of  the  buffalo, 
which  was  the  only  part  visible  above  water,  and 
which  was  snorting  and  blowing  at  a  terrific  rate. 
Al)Out  twenty  shots  from  all  kinds  of  anns— rifles, 
shotguns,  revolvers,  carbines,  and  all  kinds  of  pis- 
tols— were  discharged  at  his  devoted  head.     What 


THE  INDIAN  MASSACRE.  175 

must  have  been  the  poor  animal's  sensations  when 
this  murderous  onslaught*  was  poured  into  him! 
Many  shots  must  have  hit  him  and  many  more 
missed  him.  But  the  matted  masses  of  hair  about 
the  heads  of  these  old  fellows  are  almost  bullet 
proof,  and  no  sign  of  disaster  was  manifested  by 
the  unfortunate  brute.  The  swimming  and  the 
snorting  still  kept  up.  The  shore  was  reached,  the 
firing  was  continued ;  the  animal  walked  out  on  the 
ground,  stood  still,  shook  himself,  and  slowly  com- 
menced sinking.  This  was  not  understood  by  his 
pursuers.  The  animal  did  not  tumble  down  as  he 
would  have  done  if  badly  wounded,  but  remaining 
on  all  fours  kept  gradually  sinking  lower  and  lower. 
Lockwell,  who  was  observing  him  closely,  exclaimed, 
"  He  is  on  a  hill  of  quicksand ;  if  he  does  not  move 
quickly  he  will  be  our  meat  yet."  The  next  instant 
the  huge  beast  realized  his  own  position  and  danger, 
and  madly  plunged  for  liberty^  It  was  too  late ; 
each  struggle  only  put  him  deeper  in  the  treacher- 
ous quicksand.  "Now  is  our  time,"  observed 
Lockwell;  "he  is  fast,  and  by  stei^j^ing  quickly 
around  upon  this  sand  there  is  no  danger;  don't 
fire  any  more  shots,  but  save  your  ammunition  for 
copper-colored  game,  enough  of  which  we  may  see 
yet  before  getting  through,"  saying  which  he  ap- 
proached the  animal  with  an  axe,  and  hitting  him 
several  heavy  blows  on  the  head  ended  his  life.     It 


176  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

was  found  that  the  animal  had  sunk  in  the  quick- 
sand down  to  his  body,  and  had  not  been  able  to 
move.  A  quarter  was  cut  from  his  body  to  cook, 
but  it  was  found  so  tough  and  strong  as  to  be  use- 
less. Two  days  more  passed  pleasantly,  and  as  they 
were  then  entering  a  bad  Indian  territory  it  was 
considered  safer  to  travel  by  night  and  lay  by  in  the 
daytime,  and  this  course  was  adopted.  At  first  a 
strong  guard  was  kept  out  as  pickets  all  day,  but  as 
there  were  no  signs  of  anything  dangerous,  all  vi^^ 
orous  precautions  against  danger  were  relaxed,  con- 
trary to  the  advice  of  Lockwell,  who  strongly  in- 
sisted that  by  taking  every  precaution  against  danger 
they  were  doing  no  possible  harm,  and  might  be 
doing  themselves  a  great  deal  of  good.  His  advice 
was  unheeded,  however,  and  the  result  was  disas- 
trous. On  the  third  day  after  the  adventure  with 
the  buffalo,  and  being  then  about  seven  hundred 
miles  on  their  journey,  they  were  traveling  at 
night  about  one  third  way  across  from  the  southern 
or  right  bank  of  the  river,  when  from  the  bushes 
nearest  them  came  a  volley  of  bullets  and  arrows 
that  killed  three  of  their  number  and  wounded  two 
more.  The  suddenness  of  the  attack  paralyzed  the 
entire  crew,  and  the  next  instant  they  were  all 
lying  flat  in  the  bottom  of  the  boat,  which  was  left 
to  drift  at  the  mercy  of  the  current.  Unf ortmiately 
the  set  of  the  current  at  this  place  was  toward  the 


THE  INDIAN  MASSACRE.  Ill 

same  side  of  the  river  wlience  proceeded  the  deadly 
shots,  and  to  drift  but  little  closer  was  to  give  the 
Indians  certain  opportunities  to  fire  on  the  prostrate 
forms  of  the  unfortunate  travelers.  Realizing  the 
danger  when  he  came  to  take  thought,  Lockwell 
sprang  to  his  feet,  and  in  a  hurried  voice  explained 
the  nature  of  the  danger,  and  grabbing  an  oar  called 
uj)on  the  others  to  assist  him  in  moving  the  boat 
toward  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Seeing  this 
example  before  them  three  others  sprang  likewise 
to  the  relief  of  the  boat,  and  amid  a  perfect  shower 
of  bullets  and  arrows  pulled  with  all  their  might 
toward  the  other  side  of  the  river.  But  it  was  of 
no  use  ;  the  boat  was  so  unwieldy,  and  the  current 
so  strong,  that  it  was  steadily  moving  them  all 
toward  certain  death.  The  Indians  seeing  that  the 
whole  boat's  load  was  certainly  coming  into  their 
hands,  stopj)ed  firing,  in  all  probability  to  save  their 
ammunition.  Their  loud  yells  of  triumph  could 
now  be  heard  by  the  doomed  band  in  the  boat,  and 
they  felt  their  hearts  and  spirits  sink  within  them  as 
they  saw  the  certainty  of  their  fate  staring  them  in 
the  face.  Again  the  quick  wit  of  Lockwell  came 
to  their  rehef .  Taking  his  oar  he  quickly  plunged 
it  over  the  side  of  the  boat  into  the  water  till  it 
touched  the  bottom,  and  ^dthdrawing  it  he  gave  a 
loud  cry  of  triumph.  "  Hurrah !  boys,"  he  shouted, 
"  we  will  beat  those  savages  yet.     Jump  overboard 


178  ZZV  SEARCH  OF  OOLD. 

every  one  of  you ;  the  water  is  not  over  four  feet 
deep,  and  we  can  walk  on  the  bottom  and  with  our 
hands  on  the  edge  of  the  boat  we  will  tow  her  along 
after  us."  And  he  set  the  example  by  plunging 
over,  and  letting  himself  down  by  the  edge  of  tlie 
boat  till  he  struck  bottom,  he  held  the  boat  fast 
until  all  the  others  had  done  the  same,  first  placing 
all  their  arms  on  the  seats  near  the  side  of  the  boat 
that  they  were  to  be  on.  The  movement  was  a  per- 
fect success  :  when  they  had  gained  the  water  they 
foimd  they  could  tow  the  boat  without  difficulty ; 
besides,  the  boat  and  the  water  proved  an  effectual 
shield  against  the  bullets  of  the  Indians,  who  recom- 
menced their  firing  with  yells  of  rage  and  disap- 
pointment when  they  saw  the  success  of  the  last 
movement.  They  were  now  getting  rai-)idly  to  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  and  also  going  down  some- 
what with  the  current  in  order  to  get  below  the 
projecting  point  of  land.  In  less  than  an  hour  they 
were  out  of  reach  and  out  of  danger  of  pursuit. 
This  was  a  terrible  place  to  have  wounded  men,  Ijiit 
fortunately,  although  there  were  three  killed  out- 
right, yet  the  two  who  were  wounded  were  only 
slightly  so,  and  by  careful  treatment  with  the  best 
that  could  be  given  them  they  were  not  as  badly  off 
as  was  feared.  The  dead  were  buried  near  the 
river  on  the  grassy  bank.  Arrived  in  Omaha 
tl^Vty-two  days  from  leaving  Fort  Benton,  they 


THE  INDIAN  MASSACRE.  179 

were  congratulated  upon  their  escape,  and  the  party 
broke  up.  Lockwell  took  the  express  for  New 
York,  pondering  upon  his  anticipated  debut  as  a 
spirit.  He  had  determined  to  make  this  event  a 
success  if  it  were  possible  to  do  so. 


ISO  IJS^  SEARCU  OF  GOLD. 


CIIAPTEr.  XIY. 

APPEARS    AS    A    SPIEIT. 

AnRTTED  in  New  York,  our  friend  registered 
under  un  assumed  niinie,  and  kept  clear  of  all  places 
where  lie  would  be  likely  to  meet  any  person  who 
would  recoi^nize  him.  He  found  that  in  order  to 
render  his  plans  a  success  he  must  necessarily  take 
a  few  persons  into  his  confidence.  Proceeding  cau- 
tiously to  the  house  where  he  had  boarded  formerly 
he  appeared  to  the  landlady  and  almost  frightened 
her  to  death,  and 'it  re<piired  Ids  constant  assurances 
for  almost  an  hour  to  satisfy  her  that  he  was  not 
dead.  At  last  she  listened  while  he  unfolded  his 
plans,  and  he  was  not  mistaken  when  he  had  cal- 
culated that  she  would  yield  him  a  ready  assistance. 
Having  eidightened  her  as  to  his  plans  and  secured 
her  assistance,  his  next  move  was  to  find  a  medium 
who  would  be  open  to  financial  persuasion.  This 
he  knew  would  not  be  a  difficult  undertaking.  Call- 
ing upon  one  whom  he  considered  available  he  sim- 
ply stated  that  he  wanted  her  services  at  so  much 
a  night  (naming  a  very  liberal  fee)  to  assist  him 
to  act  the  part  of  a  disembodied  spirit  materializ- 


APPEARS  AS  A  SPIRIT.  181 

ing.  With  some  pretended  hesitation  the  medium 
consented  and  the  whole  details  were  arranged  as 
follows : 

A  meeting  or  small  gathering  was  to  be  had  at 
the  house  of  the  landlady  whom  he  had  taken  into 
his  confidence,  and  with  the  medium  present,  but 
not  Lockwell,  there  was  to  be  rapped  out  a  com- 
munication to  this  landlady  purporting  to  be  from 
the  spirit  of  Lockwell  and  earnestly  requesting  that 
a  lady  friend  of  his,  whose  name  contained  seven- 
teen letters,  should  be  informed  that  the  spirit  of 
her  friend  Lockwell  desired  to  communicate  with 
her,  and  ask  her  to  be  present  on  another  given 
evening,  at  the  same  hour  and  place.  After  this 
the  medium  was  to  give  the  ordinary  revelations 
and  communications  that  are  found,  with  a  little 
different  expression,  at  all  the  spiritual  seances  in 
the  land.  The  day  following,  the  landlady  was  to 
drop  a  note  to  each  one  of  the  two  lady  friends  of 
our  hero  describing  the  communication,  and  adding 
that  she  had  often  heard  Lockwell  speak  of  her 
while  he  was  alive  and  boarding  at  her  place,  and 
she  could  not  doubt  that  she  was  the  lady  whom 
the  spirit  of  their  mutual  friend  was  so  anxious 
to  communicate  with,  and  she  (the  writer)  would 
most  earnestly  desire  that  the  invitation  would  be 
accepted,  and  without  doubt  manifestations  of  a 
most  wonderful  nature  would  be  witnessed,  etc. 


182  ZZV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Tlie  programme  was  carried  out  fully.  Tx)ck- 
well  devoted  all  the  energies  of  his  active,  restless 
mind  to  the  successful  carrying  out  of  his  project 
for  harmless  deception  and  amusement,  and  as  he 
had  considerable  money  now  \nth  him  all  the  jDrin- 
cipal  difficulties  vanished  one  after  another.  He 
had  to  pay  the  medium  fifty  dollars  a  night  when 
her  services  were  required ;  hut  he  did  not  mind 
this  at  all  if  only  he  could  succeed  in  producing 
the  greatest  feat  of  spirit  materiidization  of  the  age. 
The  lady  friends  received  their  respective  notes, 
each  with  astonishment  and  incredulity ;  then  a 
strong  curiosity  seized  upon  them  to  know  what 
it  meant  anyway,  and  they  both  finally  determined 
to  accept  the  invitation,  and  they  accordingly  sent 
notes  to  that  effect.  This  relieved  the  mind  of  our 
hero  vastly ;  he  had  been  in  a  great  state  of  anxiety, 
fearing  that  they  might  not  come,  or  perhaps  not 
more  than  one  of  them,  in  which  case  it  would 
have  been  necessary  to  have  changed  the  intended 
programme  somewhat,  and  substituted  something 
else  for  the  appearance  of  Lock  well,  who  was  deter- 
mined he  would  appear  only  when  both  ladies  were 
brought  there  togetlier.  However,  this  trouble  was 
avoided  by  the  acceptance  by  both  ladies  of  the 
invitation  to  be  present. 

It  had  been  arranged  with  the  medium  to  invite 
about  a  dozen  of  the  most  faithful  of  the  believers 


APPEARS  AS  A  SPIRIT.  183 

in  spiritualism  to  be  present ;  men  and  ladies  who 
would  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  receive  all  they 
saw  with  that  perfect  credulity  which  causes  this 
as  well  as  every  other  religious  sect  to  flourish.  The 
all-important  evening  arrived.  A  clothes-press, 
emptied  of  its  contents,  was  to  furnish  the  nec- 
essary cabinet  in  which  the  disembodied  spirit  of 
our  friend  was  to  rehabilitate  itself  in  similar  flesh 
to  that  which  it  had  voluntarily  discarded  in  the 
waters  of  Lake  Blank  one  year  before.  The  dozen 
behevers,  the  two  interested  ladies,  with  the  hus- 
band of  one  of  them,  and  the  landlady  constituted 
the  audience.  A  false  bottom  had  been  prepared 
in  the  cabinet,  under  which,  for  the  space  of  about 
one  miimte,  Lockwell  was  to  jam  himself,  lying 
flat  down,  and  the  door  would  be  then  thrown  wide 
open  a  few  seconds  so  all  could  see  that  there  was 
no  one  in  the  cabinet.  All  of  which  was  done; 
the  audience,  one  and  all,  were  satisfied  that  there 
could  be  no  one  in  the  cabinet;  the  doors  were 
closed  and  Lockwell  arose  from  his  painful  posi- 
tion. The  lights  were  now  turned  down  very  low, 
and  the  medium  requested  that  they  all  join  in 
singing  some  simple  hymn  (to  drown  any  noise 
not  intended  to  be  heard)  and  that  they  all  join 
hands.  She  then  entered  the  cabinet.  A  few  min- 
utes of  suspense  followed  ;  a  few  raps  were  heard. 
The  voice  of  the  medium  was  heard  slowly  saying : 


184  m  SEARCH  OF  COLD. 

"Everjtliing  appears  to  be  propitious;  a  spirit  of 
iiiHisual  power  is  endeavoring  to  get  control  of  my 
will.  I  yield  to  his  power.  It  is  the  spirit  of  a 
man  dntwning.  Oh,  heavens!  I  see  him  spring 
high  in  the  air  from  a  small  boat ;  something  is 
tied  to  his  right  foot — a  small  bag  of  something; 
it  appears  to  be  very  heavy.  lie  comes  down  into 
the  water  with  a  splash.  Oh,  my  God,"  she  ex- 
claims in  accents  of  terror,  "  he  goes  down,  down, 
down  beneath  the  cold  waters.  Although  his  act 
appears  to  be  voluntary,  nature  asserts  herself ;  he 
clutches  with  a  grasp  at  the  bag  which  is  so  surely 
dragging  him  down;  he  cannot  remove  it ;  he  has 
reached  the  bottom ;  a  few  spasmodic  stniggles  and 
all  is  over.  He  lies  quietly  on  the  bottom  of  the 
l)lacid  lake,  and  there  he  must  continue  to  lie. 
Ah !  what  is  this  ?  Is  he  rising  again  ?  No,  there 
he  is  as  motionless  as  ever.  Then  what  is  this  that 
is  rising  up,  up,  with  steadily  increasing  speed 
through  the  water  as  though  there  were  no  watei- 
there;  transparent,  intangible,  yet  wonderfully  real, 
bearing  his  fonn  and  likeness  and  expression,  while 
he  still  lies  cold  and  dead  below ;  what  is  it  ?  It 
is  the  mind  and  spirit-fonn  of  that  man  rising  to 
that  sphere  of  immortality  which  it  is  best  fitted 
to  enter,  and  it  is  to  this  same  spirit  that  I  must 
now  yield  up  control  of  my  organs  of  speech.  I 
can  say  no  more."     This  last  in  a  very"  weak,  faint 


APPEARS  AS  A  SPIRIT.  185 

voice.  A  dead  silence  of  some  moments  now  inter- 
vened. If  the  two  ladies  for  whose  benefit  all  this 
was  arranged  were  somewhat  startled,  it  was  as 
nothing  compared  to  their  feelings  later  on.  After 
al)(>ut  five  minutes  of  a  quite  painful  silence,  a  deep 
and  solemn  voice  issued  from  the  little  apertures 
in  the  upper  portions  of  the  doors  of  the  cabinet, 
which  served  as  windows,  which  sent  a  startled 
thrill  through  every  nerve  in  the  frames  of  those 
two,  as  they  recognized  beyond  doubt  the  very 
voice  of  their  suicided  fricn<l.  Tliat  it  came  from 
the  cabinet  into  which  none  Init  the  medium  could 
possibly  have  entered  was  beyond  doubt.  They 
knew  not  what  to  think.  Heretofore  they  had 
both  belonged  to  the  sceptical  classes  in  regard  to 
spiritualism.  They  had  heard  of  many  remarkable 
manifestations  of  so-called  spirit  power,  but  had 
always  credited  them  to  trickery ;  here  was  a  case 
in  which  there  could  be  no  trickery.  Yet  they 
would  not  and  could  not  believe  it  all  at  first. 
They  thought  it  must  be  some  illusion  of  the 
senses.  Very  slowly  began  the  voice :  "  It  is  only 
with  the  most  extreme  difficulty,  my  friends,  that 
I  have  been  able  to  gather  power  enough  in  the 
spirit  world  to  assume  control  of  this  medium.  The 
intense  desire  I  felt  to  have  her  whom  I  so  ar- 
dently loved  while  in  the  flesh,  know  that  I  still 
entertain  the  same  feelings  toward  her,  and  to  con- 


186  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

vince  lier  that  I  am  ever  near  her,  though  unable, 
except  through  a  medium  and  under  favoring  con- 
ditions and  influences,  to  communicate  with  her. 
She  on  whose  account  I  took  my  own  life  is  pres- 
ent here  this  evening,  and  she  need  not  blush  to 
know  that  the  pure  and  holy  friendship  she  enter- 
tained for  me  was  reciprocated  by  the  deepest  love — 
such  love  as  caused  me  to  commit  suicide  when  I 
realized  how  circumstances  must  forever  keep  us 
apart.  To  her  I  say,  be  of  good  cheer.  In  that 
spirit  life  whicli  you  must  Sijmctime  enter  you  will 
find  numberless  friends  to  take  you  by  the  hand 
and  lead  you  on,  ever  ui)ward  and  onward,  upward 
and  onward." 

Our  hero  had  prepared  a  beautiful  little  speech 
which  was  to  come  in  here,  full  of  the  platitudes 
which  we  usually  get  from  the  spirit  world;  but 
at  this  point  his  memory  deserted  liim,  and  what 
to  say  next  he  could  not  think,  but  say  something 
he  must.     11q  continued  confusedly : 

"I  found  it  pretty  cold  down  there — I  mean 
it  is  pretty  warm  uj)  here — that  is  to  say,  the 
spirit  land  is  very  beautiful."  He  was  getting  ter- 
ribly mixed  up  when  a  happy  thought  struck  him : 
"  You  see,  my  friends,  that  my  power  is  waning. 
It  is  only  by  the  most  tremendous  efforts  of  my 
naturally  very  strong  will  that  I  am  enabled  to 
keep  control  of  my  medium.     I    have  also   now 


APPEARS  AS  A  SPIRIT.  187 

quite  wholly  assumed  tlie  material  form  similar  to 
that  which  I  bore  when  I  kicked  the  bucket— that 
is,  I  mean  when  I  passed  over.  This  is  a  privilege 
very  rarely  allowed  to  us  mortals — I  mean  to  us 
Rl)irits.  I  can  only  hold  this  material  form  to- 
.i;etlicr  for  a  few  moments  more,  and  during  that 
tluie  I  will  jxass  out  and  appear  to  you  closer  if 
you  will  all  join  in  singing  that  hymn  entitled, 
'  Johnny,  fill  ui>— '  I  would  say,  if  you  will  all 
unite  in  singing  that  sacred  hymn  entitled — that  is 
called — "  (aside  to  the  medium)  "  For  heaven's  sake 
give  me  the  name  of  some  hymn."  The  medium 
whispered,  "  '  When  I  can  read  my  title  clear.'  " 

The  ghost,  who  could  not  hear  very  well,  re- 
peated, "You  w-ill  all  please  sing,  'When  I  can 
read,  my  little  dear.' "  However,  it  had  the  desired 
effect ;  the  twelve  faithful  ones,  who  had  so  often 
been  through  similar  scenes,  knew  about  what  was 
wanted,  and  immediately  struck  up  on  the  well- 
known  hymn,  while  the  ghost  stepped  slowly  and 
cautiously  out  of  the  cabinet.  Though  the  light 
was  dim,  yet  the  well-known  form  and  features  of 
their  lost  friend  were  plainly  discernible  by  the 
ladies  as  he  stood  before  them. 

And  here  came  very  near  being  a  denouement 
which  would  have  been  very  unpleasant  to  all  con- 
cerned. On  getting  a  plain  view  of  the  person 
of  Lockwell,  the  two  ladies  simultaneously  fainted 


188  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

dead  awaj,  and  lie  sprang  forward  to  theii*  relief, 
and  a  second  later  he  would  have  betrayed  his  real 
existence  by  giving  them  his  support,  but  for- 
tunately the  medium  was  close  beside  him,  and, 
without  observation,  grabbed  him  by  the  wrist  in 
time  to  save  his  reputation  as  a  veritable  ghost. 
Seeing  the  others  rushing  to  the  assistance  of  the 
two  swooning  ladies,  he  retired  with  ghostly  dig- 
nity from  the  scene,  and  re-entered  the  cabinet. 
The  medium  shortly  after  emerged  from  the  cab- 
inet in  apparently  a  very  exhausted  state ;  the  doors 
were  again  thrown  open  for  a  minute's  inspection 
of  the  cabinet  if  any  one  so  chose,  but  all  were 
satisfied  as  to  the  honesty  of  everybody  and  every- 
thing. The  seance  now  broke  up.  The  ladies 
wluj  had  fainted  were  carefully  carried  to  differ- 
ent rooms,  as  it  was  desirable  that  neitlier  should 
know  of  the  other  having  been  so  effected.  They 
were  quickly  restored,  and  without  meeting  again 
were  sent  to  their  respective  homes. 

The  seance  had  been  a  success,  and  Lock  well 
now  devoted  several  days  to  a  complete  and  elab- 
orate statement  of  the  whole  affair,  together  with  a 
full  statement  in  regard  to  the  suicide,  and  sent  it 
to  each  of  the  ladies  in  question,  who  had  a  per- 
fect faith  in  spiritualizations  since  the  evening  of 
the  seance,  and  who  was  each  convinced  that  the 
spirit  of  her  friend  was  ever  hovering  near  her. 


APPEARS  AS  A  SPIRIT.  189 

Their  astonisliment  on  getting  each  the  explana- 
tory letter,  and  learning  that  Lockwell  was  still  in 
the  flesh,  and  that  the  whole  thing  had  been  trick- 
ery and  delusion,  can  better  be  imagined  than  de- 
scribed. At  first  they  were  disposed  to  be  rather 
indignant  wlien  they  considered  they  were  the  vic- 
tims of  a  practical  joke,  but  when  they  read  the 
closing  paragi-aphs  of  his  letters,  in  which  he  stated 
that  all  had  been  done  only  to  add  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  all  concerned,  and  humbly  begged  their 
pardon  if  he  had  in  any  way  caused  them  a  mo- 
ment's misery,  as  such  effect  had  been  very  far 
from  his  intentions,  they  readily  granted  him  the 
desired  pardon — the  more  readily  as  neither  knew 
that  the  other  was  also  connected  with  these  affairs. 
Both  having  swooned  simultaneously  at  the  seance, 
neither  supposed  that  the  other  was  at  all  affected 
by  the  proceedings.  He  was,  therefore,  received 
by  them  on  the  same  footing  as  of  old,  and  the 
incidents  and  the  results  of  the  great  suicide  foraied 
the  topic  of  many  an  hour's  conversation. 

After  making  himseK  known  to  all  his  friends, 
and  enjoying  their  surprise  to  the  i-itmost,  time 
once  again  began  to  hang  heavy  upon  his  hands. 
He  often  remarked  that  the  worst  kind  of  priva- 
tion and  lal3or  was  not  so  disagreeable  to  him  as 
the  ennui  of  idleness.  About  this  time  it  was  with 
great  pleasure  that  he  encountered  on  Broadway 


190  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

one  afteraoon  Mr.  Train,  the  youn<^  man  who,  as 
a  recruit  in  the  barracks  at  Fair  Haven,  Conn., 
had  saved  his  life  when  about  to  be  killed  by  a 
bounty-jumper,  as  narrated  in  a  previous  chapter. 
The  meeting. was  full  of  pleasure  to  both  parties, 
who  were  really  attached  to  each  other,  and  when 
our  friend  found  that  the  other  was  a  medical  stu- 
dent who  had  just  received  his  diploma  but  was 
in  very  imjK^cunious  circumstances,  he  took  him  to 
his  boarding-house  and  made  him  accept  of  a  room 
and  board  there  at  his  (Lockwell's)  expense,  until 
he  could  look  around  and  decide  what  to  do,  and 
ended  by  sending  him  out  to  one  of  the  mining 
towns  in  the  far  AVest,  where  there  was  a  good 
opening  for  the  young  physician  and  where  he  suc- 
ceeded and  prospered. 

The  winter  months  had  nearly  passed,  and  Lock- 
well  decided  this  season  to  seek  a  more  southerly 
field  of  operations ;  a  place  where,  if  he  felt  so 
inclined,  he  might  remain  all  winter.  Arizona  was 
the  objective  point.  He  was  off  once  more  en 
route  to  the  far  West,  but  on  passing  through  Santa 
Fc  he  was  induced  to  remain  and  enter  the  store 
of  Eetrop  &  Snibbets,  a  large  wholesale  and  retail 
house.  Though  he  was  successful  here  he  remained 
but  a  short  time  when  he  became  impressed  with 
the  idea  that  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  then 
in  process  of  construction,  would  develop  a  very 


APPEARS  AS  A  SPIRIT.  191 

fine  country  at  its  western  terminus  on  Pnget 
Sound  in  Washington  Territory,  and  lie  deter- 
mined to  go  there  and  locate  himself.  He  went 
by  way  of  San  Francisco  and  started  up  the  coast 
in  the  good  bark  "  Sylphy,"  bound  for  Puget 
Sound. 


192  /iV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTEE  XY. 


SHIP  WRECKED. 


The  good  bark  "  Sylpliy  "  had  been  on  her  voy- 
age but  two  sliort  days  wlien  slie  became  becalmed, 
and  remained  drifting  about,  now  headed  one  way 
and  now  another,  for  fifteen  days ;  days  of  unutter- 
able weariness  to  our  hero. 

There  were  no  other  passengers,  and  he  used  to 
pace  up  and  down  the  deck  in  his  loneliness  pray- 
ing for  wind.  Day  after  day  passed  and  only  the 
heavy  roll  of  the  ship  on  the  long  swells  that  came 
in  from  midocean,  causing  the  sails  to  flap  against 
the  mast,  relieved  the  position  from  being  one  of 
al)Solute  inertia.  There  are  few  more  solitary  posi- 
tions imaginable  than  a  becalmed  vessel  out  of 
sight  of  all  other  sails,  and  five  hundred  miles  from 
land. 

At  last  their  prayers  were  all  answered  at  once. 
As  is  frequently  the  case  the  unusually  long  calm 
was  followed  by  a  severe  storm,  in  fact  almost  a 
hurricane.  It  came  upon  them  with  but  little 
warning,  yet  the  captain,  ever  on  the  alert,  had 
succeeded  in  getting  everything  in  the  best  possible 


SHIPWRECKED.  193 

condition  for  receiving  tlie  brant  of  the  attack.  Tlie 
sails  had  all  been  furled,  except  only  snch  as  were 
necessary  to  keep  the  vessel  under  control.  It  came 
upon  them  first  with  a  deluge  of  rain  accompanied 
by  thunder  and  lightning.  The  vivid  play  of  the 
lightning,  as  flash  after  flash  succeeded  peal  upon 
peal  of  thunder,  caused  each  man  to  shrink  in  ter- 
ror from  the  vicinity  of  the  high  masts,  fearing 
they  would  attract  the  electric  messengers  of 
heaven. 

An  hour  passed  with  a  constant  outpouring  of 
water  from  the  clouds ;  then  the  rain  slackened  and 
the  wind  increased.  Violent  before,  it  now  became 
perfectly  irresistible.  Sail  after  sail  was  torn  away, 
replaced,  and  torn  away  again. 

The  captain  had  the  helm  in  his  hands,  and  every 
sailor  was  busily  engaged  working  in  the  rigging 
about  the  foremast.  Lockwell  stood  by  the  side  of 
the  captain,  viewing  with  deep  awe  the  majesty  of 
nature  when  aroused  as  at  present,  and  thinking 
more  of  the  beauty  of  that  pyrotechnical  display 
than  of  the  danger  by  which  he  was  surrounded, 
when  he  was  aroused  by  the  voice  of  the  captain 
exclaiming  in  great  alarm,  "That  topmast  will 
surely  give  way,  or  carry  the  whole  mainmast  with 
it  if  that  sail  is  not  cut  loose,  for  the  ropes  are  foul, 
and  I  have  no  one  to  send  up  there." 

Lockwell  looked  up  at  the  bending  topmast,  then 


194  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

at  tlie  endangering  sail,  tlie  ropes  of  wliicli  were 
foul  and  so  could  not  be  loosened  from  the  deck, 
then  at  the  sailors,  all  of  whom  were  required  for- 
ward, then  turning  to  the  captain  he  said  : 

"  Can't  I  hold  the  helm  while  you  go  up  ?" 

"Never;  it  is  as  nnich  as  our  lives  are  wortli 
to  let  the  helm  go  out  of  my  hands  now." 

"  Then  can't  I  go  up  in  the  rigging  and  cut  that 
sail  loose  ?" 

"  You  ?  "Well,  I  don't  know.  Yes,  perhaps  you 
might  if  you  are  not  afraid  to  go  up  there.  Take 
this  hatchet  with  you,"  and  he  then  explained  fully 
just  what  was  to  be  done.  In  an  instant  Lockwell 
was  ascending  the  rigging.  He  was  forced  to  hold 
the  handle  of  a  small  hatchet  between  his  teeth ;  so 
great  was  the  power  of  the  wind  it  required  both 
his  hands  to  hold  on  while  ascending.  "When  just 
at  the  top,  and  about  to  free  the  overstrained  mast, 
a  gust  of  wind  which  seemed  to  have  the  concen- 
trated force  of  a  dozen  previous  gusts  struck  the 
ship.  She  careened  so  that  he  thought  the  top  of 
the  mast  would  plunge  into  the  water  and  the  bark 
turn  over.  Although  she  turned  so  far  that  she  ap- 
peared to  be  l}"ing  on  her  side,  and  the  mast  on 
which  Lockwell  was  chnging  was  nearly  level,  and 
he  was  but  a  few  feet  above  the  water,  and  could 
have  walked  back  to  the  ship  on  the  mast  if  it  had 
remained  in  that  position,  yet  the  next  instant  the 


SHIPWRECKED.  195 

vessel  was  recovering  herself,  bringing  her  masts 
with  great  velocity  again  up  to  the  perpendicular, 
but  the  same  moment  there  was  still  another  blast 
of  wind  fully  equaling  its  predecessor  in  power  and 
velocity ;  the  return  to  the  perpendicular  of  the 
masts  being  simultaneous  with  the  arrival  of  this 
latter  blast  of  wind,  doubled  the  effect  and  force  of 
the  latter  upon  the  sails ;  no  ordinary  masts  could 
stand  the  pressure,  and  the  one  Lockwell  was  on 
bent  and  snapped  in  an  instant  close  off  at  the  deck 
and  fell  with  a  clashing  sound,  fearful  in  his  ears, 
down  into  the  Pacific  Ocean,  which,  on  that  night, 
was  thoroughly  belying  its  name.  Instinctively  he 
clung  tight  to  the  mast  as  it  descended  to  the  water. 
The  ropes  fastened  to  it  on  the  windward  side 
somewhat  broke  the  fall,  otherwise  he  might  have 
been  rendered  unconscious  by  the  concussion  on  the 
surface  of  the  water.  As  the  mast  struck  the  water 
the  sails,  which  were  attached  to  it  and  descended 
with  it,  prevented  it  from  sinking  deejD  down,  and, 
after  a  momentary  plunge  beneath  the  waters, 
Lockwell  found  himself  floating  on  the  surface  still 
clinging  tightly  to  the  mast.  On  seeing  the  fall  of 
the  mast  the  captain  had  left  his  wheel  and  sprang 
with  an  axe  to  cut  the  ropes  still  connecting  the 
floating  timber  with  the  ship.  While  this  was  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  prevent  the  vessel  from  becom- 
ing a  wreck,  it  also  cut  off  all  hope  or  chance  of 


19G  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

rescue  from  the  fallen  passenger.  As  these  occur- 
rences Lad  all  liaj^peued  late  in  the  afternoon  the 
dusk  of  evening  was  ah-eady  falling  when  Lockwell, 
rubbing  the  water  from  his  eyes,  saw  the  vessel  fast 
leaving  him  to  his  fate.  For  those  on  board  to  at- 
temi^t  to  rescue  him  in  such  a  tornado  he  knew 
would  be  worse  than  useless.  They  would  only  en- 
danger their  craft  and  could  render  him  no  assist- 
ance. Situated  in  the  viist  expanse  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  supported  only  by  a  mast,  and  every  moment 
a  towering  wave  covering  him  entirely  for  a  second, 
only  to  emerge  time  enough  to  recover  his  breath 
and  be  prepared  for  the  next,  and  also  to  see  the 
fast-receding  outlines  of  his  ship  while  the  obscurity 
of  night  was  coming  on  apace,  altogether  was 
enough  to  strike  dismay  to  the  stoutest  heart,  more 
especially  as  there  was  no  probability  of  a  sail  pass- 
ing in  sight  that  way  for  many  days,  if  at  all.  He 
was  well  aware,  from  the  captain's  daily  observa- 
tions, that  during  the  long  calm  they  had  drifted 
many  leagues  to  the  westward  of  the  regular  route 
of  coasting  vessels,  and  that,  therefore,  his  chances 
of  rescue  were  almost  7iil.  These  were  not  j^lcas- 
ant  meditations.  In  the  meantime  the  thunder  and 
rain,  which  had  almost  ceased  during  the  theaviest 
blow,  now  returned  with  increased  force,  and  the 
wind  in  its  turn  lulled  very  materially.  Aware 
that  there  was  a  long  night  Ijefore  him,  probably 


8HIPWBEGEED.  197 

the  first  of  many  that  would  find  him  in  nearly  the 
same  place,  he  began  to  look  about  him  with  a  view 
to  make  his  condition  as  comfortable  as  possible  be- 
fore it  should  be  utterly  dark.  He  saw  that  the 
spars  still  remained  fastened  crosswise  to  the  mast. 
Many  ropes  had  likewise  remained  attached  to  the 
mast  and  spars,  together  with  a  great  deal  of  sail, 
and  in  these  things  Lockwell  saw  an  opportunity 
offered  for  arranging  quite  a  comfortable  position  to 
remain  in  until  death  from  hunger  or  thirst  should 
come  to  his  relief.  Every  few  seconds  his  glance 
would  turn  again  toward  the  less  and  less  distinct 
vessel  pkmging  onward  into  the  obscurity  of  the 
night.  A  few  minutes  passed  and  his  e^^e  is  caught 
by  a  very  bright  light  on  the  vessel.  Yes,  it  was 
clear  now  that  as  soon  as  the  wind  lulled  they  must 
have  hove  too,  and  were  burning  fires  on  the  deck 
to  signal  him,  or  to  guide  him  as  to  their  position. 
But  how  useless !  he  could  not  move  his  matted  pile 
of  logs,  ropes  and  canvas  one  inch  in  any  direction. 
But  what  an  immense  fire  they  were  burning  to  at- 
tract his  attention.  How  could  they  do  it  ?  There 
was  not  enough  combustible  material  on  board  to 
build  such  an  enormous  fire,  and,  see,  it  grows 
larger!  My  God,  it  cannot  be — ah!  yes,  there  is 
now  no  earthly  doubt  in  his  mind  that  the  ship  has 
taken  fire,  that  she  is  one  mighty  blaze.  She  was 
undoubtedly  struck  by  Hghtning,  and  would  very 


108  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

80011  be  buniGcl  to  the  water's  edge.  But  where 
were  the  crew  ?  Taking  to  the  l)oats,  uiidoiil)tecllj, 
but  could  the  only  two  small  boats  that  the 
l)ark  possessed  live  in  such  a  sea  as  that?  He 
doubted  it  very  much.  He  even  thought  that  if  it 
\Vas  possible  for  him  to  leave  his  ])resent  raft  and 
net  into  one  of  those  boats  he  would  hesitate  to  do 
so;  his  raft  could  not  founder,  but  if  the  boats  filled 
with  water,  and  ho  thought  they  must  do  so,  he  was 
far  better  off  on  his  raft,  that  is,  of  course,  only  for 
the  present  time.  AVhen  the  sea  went  down  the 
boats  might  be  pulled  over  the  five  hundred  miles 
intervening  between  them  and  the  shore,  whereas 
he  could  not  move  his  craft  a  foot.  So  little  surface 
was  presented  to  tli,e  action  of  the  wind  tliat  even 
with  the  gale  then  prevailing  they  were  ch'ifting  to 
the  leeward  only  very,  very  slowly.  But  he  very 
much  doubted  if  any  who  took  to  the  boats  would 
live  till  the  sea  went  down,  and,  strange  to  say, 
thinking  upon  the  trouble  of  his  companions  seemed 
irreatlv  to  lifjchten  his  own.  A  few  minutes  before 
and  he  would  have  given  three  fourths  of  his  life  to 
have  been  once  more  upon  the  deck  of  that  vessel ; 
now  he  was  saying  to  himself,  ""Well,  I  am  glad  I 
am  here  and  not  there."  The  wind  had  now  de- 
creased very  materially,  and  the  white  water  no 
longer  broke  over  his  body.  Trpng  the  spar  that 
crossed  the  mast  where   he  was  then   sitting,  he 


^SHIPWRECKED.  199 

found  it  fastened  securely  and  lie  could  not  remove 
it ;  crawling  along  till  he  reached  the  next  one,  he 
found  that  by  a  little  cutting  and  prying  he  could 
loosen  it,  which  he  did  without  much  difficulty  ; 
then  slowly  and  carefully  towing  it  back  alongside 
of  the  first  he  placed  them  both  together  and  tied 
them  in  that  manner  with  some  of  the  surround- 
ing rope.  He  now  had  a  surface  on  which  he  could 
stand  without  much  difficulty,  and  if  he  chose  walk 
up  and  down,  although  the  heavy  swell  of  the  ocean 
made  it  careen  more  than  was  comfortable.  Stand- 
ing upright  now  he  called  with  all  his  might,  and 
repeated  this  at  intervals  of  a  few  minutes.  He  had 
summed  up  his  ideas  of  the  situation  about  in  this 
way :  The  captain  aud  crew  had  taken  to  the  boats 
as  soon  as  they  had  relinquished  all  hope  of  saving 
the  vessel.  If  they  could  keep  their  boats  at  all 
from  being  swamped  they  would,  in  all  probability, 
have  to  keep  scudding  before  the  wind,  that  is,  in  a 
direction  away  from  him,  but  there  was  just  the " 
possibility  that  they  might  control  their  boats  suffi- 
ciently to  make  headway  against  the  wind,  in  which 
case,  he  had  no  doubt,  they  would  return  to  look 
for  him,  hence  his  calls,  but,  as  he  expected,  there 
was  no  response.  As  near  as  he  could  estimate  the 
burning  wreck  lay  from  seven  to  ten  miles  away  and 
would,  he  thought,  still  remain  afloat  as  a  drifting 
hulk.     The  night  was  passing,  the  fire  was  growing 


200  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

diiiiiner,  and  soon  no  vestige  would  remain  of  the 
vessel  visible  to  Lis  eyes.  He  Lad  given  up  tlie 
small  Lope  Le  entertained  of  meeting  tLose  in  tlie 
boat  and  ceased  Lis  calls.  He  cLose  tLe  most  com- 
fortable position  Le  could  tind,  and  tried  to  tliink 
over  Lis  present  p'osition  iuid  future  prospects.  To- 
morrow nigLt,  Le  tLouglit,  Le  would  be  Lungry  and 
suffering  still  more  from  tliirst.  TLe  w^ind  and  tlie 
rain  still  continued,  and  Le  wisLed  tLere  miglit  be 
some  way  to  catcL  tLe  latter,  as  Le  sLould  certainly 
need  it  soon ;  Le  took  off  Lis  cap  and  wrung  it  out ; 
most  of  tlie  salt  water  had  been  waslied  out  by  tlie 
rains  and  replaced  by  fresL,  and  Le  wrung  out  tLe 
remainder  as  dry  as  Le  could  and  tLen  replaced  it 
upon  Lis  Lead,  knowing  tLat  wLen  it  sliould  be 
again  soaked  tlie  water  would  be  f  resL  and  Le  could 
tLen  wring  it  out  in  Lis  moutli ;  Le  did  tLe  same 
witli  Lis  coat.  TLinking  of  fresL  water  reminded 
Lini  of  tlie  LogsLeads  filled  witL  water  on  board  tlie 
bark ;  wLat  would  become  of  tliem  ?  tLey  would  not 
burn ;  a  barrel  filled  witL  water  would  not  burn  in 
an  ordinary  fire  ;  it  would  cLar  all  around  but 
would  not  burn  tlirouffli.  TLen  tLese  Lof?sLeads 
must  still  be  full  of  water  in  tLe  bottom  of  tliat 
drifting  Lulk.  H  Le  could  get  to  tLem  Le  could 
prolong  life  for  a  few  days  more.  But  Low  could 
lie  get  to  tLem  ?  TLe  body  of  tLe  vessel,  burned 
Lollow,  if  still  afloat,  would  be  drifting  about  tLe 


SHIPWRECKED.  201 

same  as  his  raft,  but  how  to  approach  one  another 
was  the  question. 

The  wind  was  very  slowly  drifting  him  toward 
the  wreck,  but  it  must  be  drifting  the  wreck  fully 
as  fast  away  from  him,  so  there  was  nothing  being 
gained.  To  increase  his  speed  then  was  evidently 
his  present  object.  He  looked  at  the  sails  entangled 
around  him ;  if  he  could  get  some  of  those  spread 
before  the  wind  tlie  thing  might  be  done.  But  he 
had  no  upright  supports  on  which  to  fasten  them, 
and  no  sticks  that  he  could  handle  and  make  into 
Httle  masts,  that  he  could  see.  He  went  to  the 
other  cross-spars  and  succeeded  in  getting  two  more 
of  them  loose,  and  taking  them,  one  at  a  time,  back 
to  where  he  had  tied  the  two  together,  he  found 
that  by  slowly  raising  one  end  while  the  other  end 
sank  in  the  water  he  could  bring  it  to  an  upright 
position,  when  about  half  of  it  would  stand  upright 
out  of  the  water.  Fastening  it  in  this  position  with 
the  ropes  which  he  detached  from  the  sails  and 
masts,  he  brought  up  the  other  and  placed  it  in  the 
same  way  about  fifteen  feet  from  the  first. 

It  had  taken  him,  he  thought,  at  least  two  hours 
of  incessant  labor  to  accomplish  this  much,  and 
he  thought  it  must  have  been  near  midnight  when 
he  began,  making  it  now  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  It  was  still  raining  a  little,  with  a  fine 
breeze,  and  he  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  get  sail 


202  IN  SEAECn  OF  GOLD. 

upon  his  masts  while  the  wind  held.  This  was  very 
difficult,  as  the  sails  were  all  beneath  the  masts  and 
spars,  all  entangled  together,  and  were  extremely 
heavy  to  move.  He  saw  he  would  have  to  go  down 
in  the  water  to  accomplish  anything,  so  he  took  off 
his  coat  .and  cap  and  hung  them  over  two  ropes 
which  he  had  stretched  across  from  one  spar  to  the 
other,  in  such  a  way  as  to  catch  all  the  rain  possi- 
ble ;  then  he  went  to  work  at  extricating  the  sail.  A 
long,  tedious  job  he  had  of  it,  but  at  last  sufficient 
sail  was  landed  upon  his  platform  to  stretch  across 
his  spars,  and  with  almost  infinite  trouble  he  placed 
it  in  position  ;  then  walking  to  the  fore-part  of  his 
curious  craft,  he  had  the  satisfaction,  by  getting 
down  and  looking  closely,  to  see  that  he  was  mov- 
ing at  a  greatly  increased  rate  of  speed.  By  putting 
his  hand  iu  the  water  he  roughly  guessed  that  he 
was  going  at  the  rate  of  two  miles  an  hour ;  then 
supposing  that  the  hulk  was  only  ten  miles  off,  and 
was  not  drifting  at  the  rate  of  more  than  one  mile 
an  hour,  he  would  overtake  her  in  ten  hours. 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  guesswork  about  this,  but 
still  he  thought  that  the  estimate  would  a2)])rox- 
imate  the  true  figures. 

As  he  was  terribly  fatigued  he  concluded  he 
would  sit  down  awhile  and  enjoy  the  sail.  He  had 
scarcely  recovered  a  little  breath  when  he  noticed 
that  liis  ungainly  vessel  was  e^adently  going  at  a 


SHIPWRECKED.  203 

miicli  slower  rate  of  speed,  and  altlioiigli  the  wind 
had  not  decreased  anj,  yet  it  aj^peared  to  have 
changed  its  direction,  for  now  it  was  blowing- 
straight  across  his  craft  instead  of  coming  directly 
from  behind,  as  had  been  the  case  when  he  first  set 
his  sail.     In  his  MSS.  he  thus  speaks  of  this  affair : 

"It  was  very  strange,  bnt  for  some  minutes  I 
could  not  understand  it,  and  the  idea  that  the  wind 
had  changed  filled  me  with  the  deepest  gloom,  for 
in  that  case  I  must  be  going  away  from  instead  of 
toward  the  wreck.  I  confess  this  made  me  awfully 
down  in  the  mouth.  Suddenly  it  flashed  across  my 
mind  like  a  streak  of  lightning  that  as  I  had  no 
rudder  the  whole  caboodle  was  turning  round,  and 
that  the  wind  had  not  chans^ed  at  all.  This  thouo-ht 
tickled  me  again,  for  however  hard  a  job  it  might 
be,  yet  I  knew  it  was  easier  to  put  a  hehn  to  my 
ship  than  change  the  wind." 

This  was  true,  and  it  was  singular  that  he  had 
never  thought  of  the  necessity  of  a  steering  ap- 
paratus, and  now  it  was  a  matter  of  extreme  difii- 
culty  to  think  of  any  plan  to  remedy  the  defect. 
There  was  still  one  cross-spar  not  in  use;  he  had 
tried  to  get  it  disconnected  from  the  main-mast 
but  had  failed ;  now  he  must  get  it  without  fail. 
He  went  to  work  with  the  huge  jack-knife  which 
he  carried  in  his  pocket,  and  by  dint  of  much  turn- 
ing and  twisting  he  finally  got  it  loose;   hastily 


204  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

taking  it  to  the  stern-end  of  the  main-mast,  he 
fastened  two  long  ropes  to  one  end  thereof,  and 
fastened  the  other  end  to  the  main-mast,  thus  allow- 
ing it  to  drag  behind.  Carrying  the  other  ends  of 
the  two  long  ropes  forward  to  the  cross-pieces,  he 
took  one  out  to  each  end  of  them  and  there  fast- 
ened them.  It  was  by  these  ropes  he  calculated  to 
move  the  rudder  which  he  had  just  contrived,  and 
he  believed  ever}i;hing  would  work.  But  now, 
unfortunately,  the  craft  having  come  beam  to  tlie 
wind,  was  lying  perfectly  still  and  had  no  steerage- 
way.  The  difficulty  was  to  start  it,  and  he  could 
think  of  no  way  except  to  swim  out  with  all  his 
might  and  main,  with  a  rope  attached  to  one  end  of 
it,  and  try  to  tow  that  end  around  a  little  to  bring 
the  wind  to  bear  u^wn  his  sail  sufficiently  to  start 
it,  when  with  the  rudder  he  could  p>ut  it  before 
the  wind  and  keep  it  there.  Now  came  the  most 
fearful  struggle  of  that  memorable  night ;  he  was 
already  exhausted  by  excessive  labor;  he  felt 
poorly  quahfied  to  battle  with  the  waves  and  exert 
all  the  strength  required  to  get  the  end  of  his  raft 
before  the  wind.  But  without  he  made  this  move- 
ment a  success  he  could  not  hope  to  escape  from 
his  most  perilous  predicament.  A  slow  and  linger- 
ing death  seemed  almost  certain  in  any  case,  but  he 
was  resolved  not  to  give  way  to  despair,  but  to  do 
all  in  his  power  for  his  ONvn  preservation,  and  trust 


SHIPWRECKED.  205 

to  luck  for  tlie  remainder.  With  one  end  of  the 
rope  around  his  waist  he  j)lunged  into  the  water 
and  swam  with  all  his  might ;  in  a  minute  the  rope 
around  his  waist  was  drawn  taut  and  he  strained 
every  muscle  to  gain  headway.  The  strain  upon  his 
muscles  was  terrific ;  at  first  lie  felt  sure  that  he 
was  gaining,  then  he  felt  equally  sure  that  all  his 
efforts  were  perfectly  fruitless.  He  had  fastened 
the  rudder  in  such  a  way  that  it  would  bring  the 
craft  around  of  itself  as  soon  as  the  wind  was 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  sails  and  give  it  motion. 
Minute  after  minute  of  this  awful  struggle  passed, 
and  he  had  given  up  in  despair  and  returned  to  his 
craft ;  but  what  was  his  joy  to  find  that  she  had 
just  started,  and  was  then  very  slowly  but  surely 
moving,  and  the  wind  was  perceptibly  coming  from 
one  or  two  points  abaft  the  beam.  With  a  thrill  of 
delight  he  stationed  himself  at  the  ropes  to  guide 
the  vessel  and  keep  her  before  the  wind.  As  the 
rudder  was  already  properly  arranged  he  had  some 
minutes  in  which  to  regain  his  strength  before  it 
required  his  attention.  At  last  the  raft  was  once 
more  headed  before  the  wind  and  moving  along  be- 
tween two  and  three  knots  an  hour.  The  rudder 
was  drawn  straight,  and  the  lonely  pilot  had  only 
the  feeling  of  the  wind  to  guide  him  in  his  at- 
tempts at  steering :  when  he  judged  by  the  feel 
of  the  wind  that  the  craft  was  heading  too  much  on 


206  IJH  SEARCH  OF  QOLD. 

one  side,  lie  would  haul  on  tlie  rudder  rope  on  tlie 
opposite  side,  and  thus  bring  her  into  position ;  of 
course  he  knew  if  the  wind  had  changed  all  his 
efforts  were  useless.  It  was  tedious  work,  and 
every  operation  had  been  conducted  in  the  dark. 
Now  it  was  with  something  like  hope  that  he  wit- 
nessed the  indications  of  a  coming  dawn,  which 
appeared  close  to  the  horizon.  As  more  and  more 
light  came  upon  the  ocean's  expanse  he  strained 
his  eyes  more  and  more  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
deserted  bark.  But  disajipointmcnt  only  came  with 
the  daylight :  no  bark  was  in  sight.  Alas,  he 
feared  she  must  certainly  have  gone  to  the  bottom, 
and  with  her  all  hopes  of  his  prolonging  his  life  till 
succor  of  some  kind  •  might  come  that  way.  But 
when  he  thought  of  all  the  time  lost  just  before  he 
fixed  the  rudder,  he  thought  he  could  reasonably 
hardly  expect  to  have  come  within  sight  of  her. 
Hour  after  hour  passed.  The  rain  had  stopped  and 
he  had  wrung  out  his  coat  and  sucked  all  the  water 
he  could  from  botli  it  and  his  cap,  and  the  convic- 
tion began  to  steal  in  upon  him  that  that  was  the 
last  drop  of  water  he  should  ever  taste.  But  to 
give  up  was  never  a  pai-t  of  his  nature.  He  went 
to  the  bow  of  his  pile  of  sticks  and  gazed  long  and 
earnestly  ahead  ;  it  was  no  use,  "  sky  and  ocean,  no 
more."  Then  he  bethought  him  that  it  was  very 
unlikely  she  would  be  directly  ahead,  as  his  own 


SHIPWREGKED. '  207 

craft  had  not  always  sailed  directly  before  the  wind, 
esiDecially  before  she  received  her  rudder.     These 
thoughts  led  him  to  scan  the  water  also  well  on 
both  sides,  and  great  was  his  astonishment  to  plainly 
discern  a  black  object  of  some  kind  immediately 
abeam  of  him  on  the  port  side— that  is,  this  object 
was  parallel  with  him   on  the   left  side;  he  was 
about  to  pa^s  it,  leaving  it  behind,  yet  it  was  miles 
away  from   him.     He  had  no   doubt  it  was   the 
wreck  he  was  in  search  of,  yet  the  sight  of  it  in 
that  position  confused  him  terribly ;  he  could  not 
sail  his  craft  in  that  direction,  not  being  able  to 
change  the  shape  of  his  sails.     He  could  only  turn 
it  two   or  three  points   either  way  from  running 
directly  before  the  wmd.     They  were  now  running 
on  parallel  courses,  side  by  side,  yet  miles  apart. 
He  sailing  at  the  rate  of  two   or  three  miles  an 
hour,  and  the  wreck  drifting  before  the  wind  at 
about  one.     How  was  he  to  get  to  her  ?    There  was 
but  one  way ;  by  changing  the  course  of  his  raft, 
by  means  of  his  helm,  as  much  as  possible  toward 
the  left,  it  would  then  eventually  reach  the  line  on 
which  the  wreck  was  drifting,  but  miles  ahead  of 
that  vessel,  he  could  then. haul  down  his  sail  and 
wait  for  the  other  vessel  to  overtake  him.     This 
delay  was  vexatious,  for  if  the  wind  went  down  it 
would  render  his  plans  impracticable.     However, 
there  was  nothing  else  to  be  done,  and  the  rudder 


208  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

was  changed  to  turn  the  head  of  the  raft  as  far  as 
possible  toward  the  left.  Hours  passed :  it  was 
again  approaching  evening.  The  day  was  unusually 
warm,  and  our  friend  began  to  feel  the  need  of 
food  and  water,  and  he  was,  moreover,  excessively 
tired  and  needed  sleep  and  rest,  and  now  he  feared 
that  the  darkness  of  night  would  again  come  on  be- 
fore he  reached  the  abandoned  vessel,  and  he  also 
began  to  feel  less  sure  of  finding  water  when  he  got 
there.  Adverse  circumstances  were  beginning  to 
get  the  better  of  his  strung  will,  and  he  felt  exceed- 
ingly discouraged.  Nevertheless  he  would  not  say 
die  till  he  had  boarded  that  other  craft.  ^Vnd  now 
he  was  almost  directly  ahead  of  her  on  the  line  on 
which  she  was  drifting  before  the  wind ;  he  hauled 
down  the  sail  and  waited.  Xow,  if  his  raft  had 
presented  as  much  surface  to  the  wind  as  the  other 
they  would  have  drifted  equally,  and  so  have  kept 
just  as  far  ajjart ;  but  his  logs  lay  so  low  in  the 
water  that  the  wind  had  very  little  effect  ujion 
them.  So  the  black  spot,  supposed  to  be  the 
wreck,  steadily  approached  and  increased  in  size 
till  he  could  clearly  make  out  the  black  hull  of  the 
ill-fated  bark  that  only  twenty-four  hours  before 
had  contained  himself,  all  unconscious  of  im^^ending 
danger.  lie  could  now  distinctly  see  the  unevenly 
burned  edges  of  her  sides — burned  down  to  within 
a  few  feet  of  the  water's  edge.     lie  also  saw  that 


SHIPWBECKED.  209 

one   mast  was  still  standing,  thougli  cliarred  and 
burned  off  about  half  way  from  the  top. 

The  drifting  mass  was  plainly  distinguishable 
now,  and  he  saw  that  it  would  pass  about  one  fourth 
of  a  mile  from  him :  he  had  crossed  its  path  and 
gone  about  that  distance  beyond. 


210  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTEK  XYI. 


His  only  course  now  was  to  let  the  hulk  drift 
past  him,  then  raise  his  sail  and  endeavor  to  steer 
straight  for  the  object  he  had  taken  so  much  trouble 
to  find.  Everything  was  in  readiness  for  the  next 
attempt  to  board  her,  for  he  was  very  fearful  that 
if  darkness  come  on  before  he  had  joined  the  two 
crafts  they  might  drift  so  far  apart  as  to  be  out  of 
view  of  each  other  in  ,the  morning,  in  which  case 
he  would  have  no  idea  where  to  seek  the  other. 
When  the  hulk  had  gone  jiast  for  a])out  the  distance 
of  half  a  mile  he  thought  he  would  be  able  to 
come  up  with  her  by  jDointing  his  raft  at  a  spot 
about  half  a  mile  ahead  of  the  other,  and  on  her 
course,  Tliis  movement  was  entirely  successful, 
both  the  pursuer  and  pursued  arriving  at  that  point 
about  the  same  time. 

By  a  little  extra  exertion  our  friend  was  enabled 
to  caiTy  his  craft  directly  in  front  of  the  burned, 
wrecked,  and  water-logged  hulk,  when  he  instantly 
lowered  his  sail  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  the 
other. 


^^LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.^^  211 

The  wind  having  in  the  last  hour  declined  still 
further,  the  hulk  was  coming  very  slowly  ;  in  fact, 
was  now  only  just  moving  as  she  struck  the  left 
arm  of  his  raft,  and  he  had  his  arms  extended  to 
grasp  the  chain  that  was  hanging  from  her  how, 
and  a  rope  ready  to  securely  tie  them  together. 
The  ship  was  drifting  sideways,  or  nearly  so,  at  the 
time  she  came  in  contact  with  the  raft,  and  only  a 
few  feet  of  her  bow  overlapped  the  raft.  Yet  it 
was  sufficient  for  all  practical  purposes.  The  two 
were  securely  joined  together.  By  the  time  that 
this  was  accomplished  it  was  as  dark  as  it  would  be 
that  night ;  it  was  clear  and  warm,  with  very  little 
wind. 

Lockwell  had  just  strength  enough  left  to  stand 
upon  his  tip-toes  and  look  over  the  burnt  edge  of 
the  vessel  at  the  interior. 

The  sight  was  not  encouraging  ;  she  was  nothing 
but  a  hollow  shell,  containing  several  feet  of  water, 
on  which  floated  many  pieces  of  wood,  burnt  and 
charred,  and  of  every  conceivable  shape;  ends  of 
planks,  pieces  of  spars,  etc.,  etc.,  and  among  them 
he  thought  he  could  detect,  also  floating,  but  with 
very  little  above  the  water,  the  charred  hogsheads  of 
fresh  water.  But  this  fresh  water  was  so  very  diffi- 
cult to  get  at,  even  now,  he  having  nothing  with 
which  to  remove  the  bungs,  and  no  way  even  then 
to  get  out  the  contents,  that,  thirsty  as  he  was,  he 


212  IJ^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

concluded  to  posti^onc  aU  action  until  daylight  on 
tlie  ensuing  morning.  Seeing  that  the  two  vessels 
were  securely  fastened  together,  he  laid  down  on 
the  narrow  l-ad  made  by  the  two  spars  fastened  t<> 
gether,  and,  being  very  exhausted  and  sleej^y,  soon 
was  sound  asleep. 

It  was  near  daybreak  when  he  was  awakened  by 
a  slight  jar  or  shock  upon  his  raft.  This  surprised 
him,  and  as  soon  as  he  could  collect  his  scattered 
senses  he  raised  up  and  glanced  about  to  see  what 
had  caused  this  unusual  motion  of  his  bed. 

Had  he  been  boarded  by  some  boat's  crew  ?  lie 
almost  hoped  so.  Yet,  on  second  thought,  he  re- 
membered that  the  chances  of  being  discovered  out 
there  were  as  a  thonsaiVl  to  one  against  him.  Then 
he  looked  around,  and  the  first  glance  filled  him 
with  despair.  The  old  hulk  had  gone ;  totally  dis- 
appeared !  She  was  nowhere  in  sight ;  she  had  evi 
dently  sunk. 

A  sickening  feeling  that  all  was  now  lost  indeed 
came  over  him.  lie  threw  himself  down  again 
with  a  moan,  and  buried  his  face  in  his  hands  and 
arms. 

The  daylight  coming  some  minutes  later,  he 
raised  his  head  again  and  looked  around.  He 
could  see  for  miles  in  every  direction. 

If  the  two  crafts  had  sej^arated,  which  was  un- 
reasonable to  suppose,  they  could  not  have  drifted 


^^ LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.^''  213 

twenty  feet  aj^art,  for  there  liad  been  no  wind. 
He  could  see  for  certain  that  she  was  not  within 
miles ;  then  he  knew  that  the  remains  of  the  old 
bai-k  had  gone  down,  and  the  shock  he  felt  was 
when  the  rope  or  chain  had  ^Darted.  Again,  with 
his  head  upon  his  arms,  he  pondered  long  and 
deejjlj.  What  chance  was  there  of  his  being 
found?  None  whatever,  or  so  nearly  none  that 
it  was  not  worth  considering. 

He  was  entirely  out  of  the  track  of  coasters,  and 
not  in  the  track  of  anything  else.  'No,  his  fate  was 
inevitable.  He  must  stay  there  and  suffer  all  the 
agonies  of  hunger  and  thirst  until  an  awful  death 
came  to  his  relief  ! 

JSTo,  there  was  one  way  far  better  than  that ;  he 
could  escape  all  the  worst  agony  by  committing  sui- 
cide. "  This  time  in  earnest,"  he  said  to  himself,  as 
he  thought  of  the  other  attempt  made  in  fun.  Yes, 
he  would  live  a  few  hours  more,  and  then  as  soon 
as  the  cravings  for  food  and  water  became  painful, 
why,  a  little  resolution  on  his  part  and  it  would  all 
be  over. 

He  still  remained  lying  with  his  face  down,  al- 
though the  sun  was  now  above  the  horizon.  He 
began  to  feel  very  thirsty  ;  he  thought  of  the  water 
casks  he  had  seen  floating  around  inside  the  hulk — 
floating!  the  thought  passed  through  his  mind 
that  if  they  were  floating  then  they  must  be  float- 


21-4  ly  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

in<5  now!  The  ship,  liaving  iio  dock,  could  not 
carry  them  do^vn,  and  they  must  be  still  flout ln<z; 
near  by.  In  his  misery  this  evident  fact  had  not 
occurred  to  him.  lie  jumped  to  his  feet.  There, 
scattered  all  around,  were  all  the  floating  articles  he 
had  seen  on  the  previous  evening  inside  the  old 
bark,  and  not  fifteen  feet  away  were  to  be  seen  two 
water-casks  floating — Idack,  charred,  and  smoke- 
bcgrinied,  but  still  undoubtedly  water-casks.  A 
flash  of  hope  came  with  the  sight,  but  the  next  in- 
stant he  was  calling  himself  a  fool  for  feeling  any 
joy  at  the  sight.  AVhat  was  water  without  food  ? 
It  would  prolong  his  misery  for  a  few  days,  and 
then  the  same  end — suicide — must  come.  In  fact, 
would  it  not  be  better,  to  end  the  whole  thing  at 
once  ?  Well,  he  would  have  a  good  drink  of.  water 
anyway  before  he  died. 

Now  he  noticed  that  the  raft  was  not  lying  regu- 
larly. The  side  to  which  the  ship  had  been  fast- 
ened was  almost  under  water,  while  the  opposite 
side  was  not.  This  puzzled  him,  and  he  went  to 
where  the  rope  which  he  had  tied  to  the  chain  of 
the  ship  was  still  fastened  to  the  cross-spar,  and,  as 
he  supposed,  the  broken  end  was  extending  down 
into  the  water.  As  he  approached  '»closer,  un- 
bounded was  his  astonishment  to  see,  not  fifteen 
feet  below  the  raft,  the  outlines  of  the  vessel,  sus- 
pended by   the    rope   and   chain   from   the   raft! 


''LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN   WAVE.^^  215 

Now,  if  this  portion  of  Lockwell's  MSS.  seems  too 
unlikely  to  receive  credence  from  the  reader,  we 
must  beg  him  to  remember  that  it  was  the  wooden 
hnll  of  a  vessel,  and  was  not  expected  to  sink  at 
all,  even  if  full  of  water,  and  would  not  have  done 
80  but  for  the  cargo,  a  small  portion  of  which  was 
heavier  than  water.  Most  of  the  cargo  had  been 
consumed  by  the  fire,  but  when  the  fire  broke  out 
some  little  water  was  in  the  hold,  as  is  always  the 
case,  but  a  great  deal  more  had  been  thrown  in  by 
the  crew  in  their  efforts  to  extinguish  it. 

We  will  also  explain  (what  was  not  then  known 
to  Lock  well,  of  course)  what  had  transpired  at  the 
ship  immediately  after  she  was  struck  by  lightning. 
The  fluid  had  struck  the  foremast,  setting  fire  at 
once  to  the  forecastle,  the  cook's  galley,  and  even 
to  the  freight  in  the  hold. 

At  first  it  was  thouglit  that  the  fire  could  be 
subdued,  and  all  hands  were  employed  in  drawing 
up  and  casting  on  water,  and  it  was  not  till  the 
whole  forward  part  of  the  ship  was  burned  away, 
including  most  of  the  main  deck,  that  the  captain 
concluded  to  abandon  her.  The  rain  had  so  as- 
sisted them  in  preventing  the  spread  of  the  fire  that 
it  was  not  until  after  two  or  three  hours'  hard  work 
that  they  despaired  of  success.  The  boats  were 
then  lowered,  and  well  provisioned  and  watered, 
after  which  the  caj)taiu,  with  remarkable  presence 


216  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

of  mind  luuler  the  circumstances,  told  the  second 
mate  to  go  do\vn  into  the  after  liold  with  a  large 
auger  and  bore  two  or  three  holes  below  the  water- 
line,  thinking  the  water  would  then  rush  in  and 
cover  some  of  the  cargo  before  the  tire  desti'oyed  it 
all,  and  so,  as  the  ship  went  down,  much  of  the 
lighter  cargo  would  become  detached  from  the 
heavier  and  rise  to  the  top,  where  it  would  eventu- 
ally find  its  way  to  some  shore,  or  be  picked  up  by 
some  vessel,  and  so  do  some  one  some  good.  It 
was  a  good  idea,  but  the  second  mate,  who  was  in- 
ti-ustcd  with  the  mission,  in  the  excitement,  and  the 
freight  also  being  in  the  way,  bored  his  holes  too 
high  uji — above  the  water-line — and  failed  of  pro- 
ducing the  intended  effect ;  he,  however,  reported 
to  his  captain  that  the  water  was  pouring  in  as  de- 
sired. The  boats  were  then  launched,  and  the 
crew  embarked.  Shortly  after  the  fire  started  some 
twenty  barrels  of  oil  which  were  carried  as  freight 
upon  the  deck  were  thrown  overboard,  and  the 
bungs  knocked  out,  witli  the  double  purpose  of 
keeping  it  away  from  the  fire,  and  also  to  calm 
the  troubled  waters  in  case  they  had  to  take  to  the 
small  boats.  They  now  saw  the  wisdom  of  this 
policy  ;  the  oil  had  spread  out  a  long  distance  over 
the  surface,  and  by  keeping  the  boats  in  the  middle 
of  this  they  were  enabled  to  prevent  them  from 
being  swamj)ed,  and  in  this  patch  of  oil  they  re- 


'^LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.'*''  217 

mained  till  daybreak,  when  the  storm  had  so  much 
abated  they  were  enabled  to  move  out  of  the 
charmed  circle.  The  captain  proposed  at  once  to 
go  in  search  of  the  missing  passenger,  but  the 
others  were  for  steering  at  once  for  land,  thinking 
i'i  utterly  impossible  that  their  late  passenger  could 
have  lived  through  the  night,  and  one  of  the  sailors 
decided  the  case  by  saying  that  when  the  first  mast 
went  by  the  board  he  had  distinctly  seen  the  pas- 
senger become  detached  in  the  descent  and  fall  in 
the  water,  from  which  he  did  not  rise  again.  The 
captain  thinking  this  very  likely,  and  having  no 
reason  to  doubt  the  man's  story,  consented  to  row 
for  the  nearest  land,  which  they  reached  after  six 
days  of  hard  luilling  at  the  oars.  After  the  fire  had 
consumed  all  it  could,  and  was  finally  put  out  by 
the  dashing  of  the  spray  over  the  sides,  there  still 
remained  packed  in  the  bottom  of  the  hull  light 
and  heavy  cargo  mixed  together,  the  heavy  cargo 
holding  some  of  the  light  freight  down.  Among 
this  heavier  freight  were  a  good  many  canned  goods 
and  vegetables,  and  this  class  of  goods  is  but  very 
Httle  heavier  than  water  when  packed  in  light 
wooden  boxes ;  nevertheless,  were  just  enough 
heavier  to  counterbalance  the  natural  buoyancy  of 
the  ship,  and  a  very,  very  little  more,  so  as  to  carry 
her  very  gently  down.  When  he  took  possession 
oi  the  ship  she  was,  of  course,  leaking  some,  though 


218  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

N'ery  little,  but  as  the  linger  holes  were  then  only 
about  an  inch  above  the  water-line,  she  gradnally 
settled  down  to  those  holes  in  the  night,  when,  of 
course,  the  water  poured  in,  and  she  sank  gently 
down  till  she  felt  the  sustaining  power  of  the  rope 
which  wa.s  attached  to  the  raft,  when  she  sank  no 
lower  by  the  bow,  but  the  stern  kept  sinking  till 
she  stood  straight  up  and  down  in  the  water,  held 
in  that  position  by  the  rope  at  one  end  and  the 
heavier  freight,  much  of  which  had  now  slid  back 
in  the  stern,  thereby  loosening  some  little  of  the 
lighter  stuff,  such  as  bales  of  dry  goods,  which  now 
rose  to  the  surface,  and  floated  around  the  raft. 
The  escape  of  these  goods  incre;ised  the  strain  upon 
the  rope  and  chain,  of  course,  but  not  sufficiently  to 
part  them.  Such  was  the  condition  of  affairs  when 
our  hero  rose  to  seek  the  casks  of  water.  Knowing 
nothing  about  the  auger  holes  and  attending  cir- 
cumstances, his  surprise  was  unlimited  to  discover 
the  ship  in  the  position  described.  His  active  mind 
at  once  took  in  all  the  great  possibilities  of  the  oc- 
eion.  He  jumped  from  the  very  depths  of  despair 
to  the  summit  of  hope.  But  he  was  a  ifian  of  ac- 
tion as  well  as  thought.  The  first  thing  to  do  was 
to  quench  his  rapidly  increasing  thirst;  taking  a 
small  rope  in  his  teeth  he  swam  to  the  nearest 
water-cask,  and  placing  it  carefully  around,  taking 
the  other   end  in  his  teeth  the  same  way,  he  re- 


^^LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.'''  219 

turned  to  the  vessel  and  hauled  the  cask  carefully 
alongside,  lashing  it  strongly  to  the  mast,  with  the 
hung  up ;  this  done,  he  used  his  large  knife  to  pick 
and  cut  out  the  bung.  This  accomplished  he  had 
no  way  to  get  at  the  water,  which  was  about  a 
foot  below  the  bung,  except  to  drop  one  end  of  his 
Lii-ge  pocket-handkerchief  down  in  the  cask,  and 
hauling  it  up  he  sucked  off  the  dripping  water. 
This  he  repeated  many  times,  becoming  gi-eatly  re- 
freshed, and  also  feeling  his  courage  return  once 
more  to  battle  for  his  life.  He  was  half  famished  ; 
60  the  first  thing  to  do  was  to  try  to  get  something 
to  eat.  He  was  sufficiently  well  accpiainted  with 
the  ship's  cargo  to  believe  that  the  few  floating 
boxes  did  not  contain  any  eatables.  He  also  knew 
that  there  were  canned  fruits  and  vegetables  in 
the  hold,  and  he  thought  that  some  of  these  might 
be  still  there.  As  he  was  an  expert  swimmer  and 
diver  he  resolved  to  explore ;  taking  off  all  of  his 
clothes,  he  followed  the  rope  down  to  the  vessel, 
and  inside  as  quick  as  possible  (knowing  that  in 
one  minute  he  would  have  to  return  for  breath). 
He  felt  around  till  he  came  to  what  he  thought 
was  a  box  of  fruit,  but  now  he  had  to  hasten  back 
for  breath.  Losing  no  more  time  than  was  neces- 
sary, he  returned  straight  to  the  spot  this  time, 
thinking  he  could  carry  up  the  box  with  him,  but 
he  found  that  it  was  too  large  for  him  to  handle. 


220  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Going  up  again,  he  returned  witli  his  knife  between 
his  teeth,  and  with  this  he  pried  off  the  thin  side  of 
the  box  and  got  a  can  out,  which  he  succeeded  in 
getting  to  the  surface.  It  was  labelled  "  String- 
beans."  Opening  it  with  his  knife,  he  tried  to  im- 
agine it  was  a  can  of  oystei*s,  and  so  he  could  make 
a  good  breakfast  off  of  them ;  but  not  having  his 
imagination  well  trained  he  failed  miserably  in  the 
attempt.  He  forced  some  of  them  down,  neverthe- 
less, enough  to  stop  the  intense  cravings  of  his  ap- 
petite. All  his  life  he  had  disliked  the  taste  of 
string-beans,  avoiding  them  always,  and  many  a 
time  afterward,  when  asked  if  he  liked  string-beans, 
he  would  say,  '*Xo,  I  can't  eat  tliem ;  I  have  done  it, 
but  I  do  not  hanker  after  them."  A  few  more  at- 
tempts below  tlie  water,  and  he  brought  up  a  can 
of  green  corn. 

"  Succotash,  by  Jove,"  he  murmured,  as  he  set 
the  corn  and  beans  together.  "  I  will  mix  them, 
and  see  if  they  go  any  better." 

He  did  so,  and  made  quite  a  lu-eakfast  from  out 
the  two  cans.  Then  emptying  out  tlie  balance  of 
the  beans  on  the  log,  he  made  a  small  hole  in 
the  edge  of  the  can  with  his  knife ;  made  a  string 
from  the  fibre  of  the  rope,  and  dropping  the  can 
into  the  water-cask,  drew  it  out  full.  This  was  a 
great  imjirovement  over  sucking  the  handkerchief, 
and  now  he  began  to  feel  if  he  only  had  a  man  Fri- 


^^ LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.^^  221 

day  and  a  tropical  island  lie  would  be  a  second  R. 
Crusoe,  Esq. 

But  lie  had  too  much  hard  labor  before  him  to 
waste  his  time  in  idle  speculation.  He  went  to 
work  with  a  will. 

"We  will  spare  the  reader  the  details  of  how  he 
collected  in,  first,  everything  floating  in  the  vicinity 
which  he  thought  might  be  of  any  possible  use  to 
him  ;  next  everything  that  could  be  removed  from 
the  wreck  below. 

It  was  while  working  at  this  latter  part  of  the 
business  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  floating  the 
old  hull  once  again.  He  reasoned  that,  if  a  little 
of  the  heavier  freight  was  thrown  out  of  her,  she 
would  come  to  the  surface  of  her  own  accord.  But 
the  work  was  necessarily  slow,  owing  to  his  being 
able  to  stay  under  water  scarce  a  minute.  Besides, 
he  did  not  wish  to  lose  anything  that  by  any  possi- 
bility he  might  need.  He  had  found  all  kinds  of 
canned  goods,  also  some  salt  codfish,  which,  when 
re-dried,  was  uninjured,  and  he  had  yard  after  yard 
of  cloth,  which  he  had  dried,  but  this  was  of  little 
use  to  him.  He  had  four  good  large  casks  of 
water  lashed  to  his  raft,  and  each  one  of  these 
would  have  lasted  him  three  months.  But  he  had 
no  intention  of  waiting  here  till  he  drank  it  wp. 
He  was  very  fond  of  good  fare  (though  he  cared 
very  little  for  liquor).    An  intense  desire  now  grew 


222  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

lip  witliiu  him  to  have  some  fresh  meat;  also 
bread  and  butter — in  fact,  to  have  a  "  square  meal," 
and  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  not  cut 
out  for  a  Robinson  Crusoe,  but  that  he  must  go 
wliere  thej  had  something  good  to  eat ! 

In  brief  he  had  formed  a  very  bold  plan  of 
escape — no  less  than  the  floating,  fitting  up  and 
sailing  of  tlie  bark  straight  for  the  shores  of 
America. 

As  said  above,  he  was  satisfied  that  when  every- 
thing should  be  removed  from  the  wooden  hull 
of  tlie  vessel  tliat  she  would  then  float  of  her  own 
accord,  and  he  would  then  try  to  find  where  she 
leaked  and  bail  her  out. 

As  expected,  when  cleared  of  her  contents  she 
slowly  and  easily  came  to  the  surface,  a  few  inches 
of  her  sides  only  being  above  the  water.  To  pre- 
vent any  unnecessary  weight  above  the  water  from 
]U'essing  her  down  he  had,  by  means  of  an  axe  and 
hatchet,  both  of  which  he  had  discovered  lying 
together  upon  the  bottom,  cut  all  her  sides  down 
perfectly  even,  so  that  there  was  no  place  where 
the  water  came  over  the  top.  Then  he  spent  many 
a  minute  trying  to  think  how  to  get  the  water  out 
of  her.  The  way  she  sank  puzzled  him  not  a  little. 
She  had  been  many  hours  afloat  when  he  discov- 
ered her,  and  only  had  a  few  feet  of  water  in  her, 
yet  the  same  night  she  must  have  taken  in  at  least 


^' LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.''^  223 

two  or  three  feet  more  before  slie  sank.  Tliis  lie 
knew  could  only  be  done  in  one  way.  "Wlien  slie 
settled  a  little  further  down  she  must  have  passed 
other  holes  or  leaks  under  water,  thi'ough  which 
the  water  passed  in  torrents,  and  these  holes  must 
have  been  very  near  w^here  the  water-line  tlien  was 
when  he  discovered  the  inside  of  her,  and  he  tried 
to  remember  just  how  far  up  the  water  came  that 
night,  for  about  at  that  elevation  on  the  ship's  sides 
or  ends  must  be  the  Jirst  of  the  extra  leaks  at  all 
events.  He  got  inside  of  her  and  commenced,  as 
well  as  he  could,  a  thorough  examination  mider 
water  all  around  the  ship. 

He  spent  three  tedious,  discouraging  days  in  this 
tiresome  work,  and  it  was  not  till  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  fourth  day  that  he  succeeded  in  finding  tlie 
auger  holes.  This  encouraged  him,  and  he  felt 
that  now  if  there  were  only  no  more  holes  he  could 
eventually  bail  it  out.  Yet  he  also  knew  that  it 
would  be  almost  an  infinite  undertaking  to  clear 
this  hulk  of  water  with  nothing  but  one  of  his 
empty  fruit  cans  to  bail  with.  And  he  also  knew 
that  the  ship  leaked  some,  almost  every  ship  does 
that,  and  has  to  be  pumped  out,  and  if  she  leaked 
as  much  in  the  twenty-four  hours  as  he  could  bail 
out  in  the  twelve  or  fourteen  that  he  could  work 
each  day,  his  labor  would  of  course  be  useless. 
He  dreaded  to  begin  this  work,  but  the  thoughts 


224  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

of  his  now  detested  "  hash"  spurred  him  on.  "  I 
knew,"  he  writes  in  his  MSS.,  "  that  this  was  going 
to  be  a  most  fearful  struggle  for  hash.  The  food 
that  I  was  then  compelled  to  eat  was  extremely 
nauseating  to  me.  Salt  cod-fish  and  raw  canned 
vegetables  are  very  good  once  in  a  while  I  suppose, 
but  take  them  twenty-one  times  a  week  right  along 
and  I  tell  yon  they  get  monotonous.  ^N'othing  but 
the  hope  of  having  something  fit  to  eat  by-and-by 
kept  up  my  courage."  Preparing  his  food,  such 
as  it  was,  so  that  he  might  get  it  with  as  little  loss 
of  time  as  possible,  he  began  very  early  one  morn- 
ing to  bail  out  the  wreck.  He  had,  of  course, 
stopped  up  the  auger  holes.  He  bailed  steady  that 
day  for  sixteen  long  hours,  with  only  such  inter- 
missions as  were  absolutely  necessary,  and  yet  at 
night  he  could  not  see  that  he  had  lowered  it  any. 
He  slept,  he  thought,  about  seven  hours,  then  re- 
newed his  work  at  this  frightful  undertaking. 
About  fifteen  hours  more  of  excessive  labor  was 
put  in  this  day,  yet  he  was  not  sure  he  was  gaining 
one  pint  upon  the  bulk  of  water  to  be  heaved 
over  the  side  with  his  Httle  tin  cup.  But  the 
motion  of  the  ship  was  such  that  he  could  not 
measure  the  depth  of  water  with  any  degree  of 
accuracy. 

Another  day  passed  with  equal  hard  work,  but 
on  this  evening  he  was  rewarded  by  seeing  that 


"ilFW  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAYE^  225 

the  vessel  had  imdoubtedlj  risen  some,  though  only 
very  little. 

Day  after  day  followed  with  only  the  same  slight 
decrease  in  the  water.  Incessant  labor,  yet  he  could 
not  rest  one  day,  for  had  he  done  so,  while  he 
rested  the  water  would  have  been  increasing  all 
the  time  in  the  ship.  He  increased  the  number  of 
hours  of  his  daily  labor ;  six  hours  was  all  he  al- 
lowed himself  for  sleep ;  he  became  thin,  exhausted, 
and  almost  broken  down.  He  was  almost  crazed 
with  the  thought  that  if  he  should  become  sick, 
if  only  for  a  few  days,  the  vessel  would  refill  and 
all  his  work  have  been  in  vain.  For  nine  weeks  he 
kept  this  up,  almost  night  and  day. 

The  ninth  week  was  one  of  almost  absolute  tor- 
ture. But  the  end  came  at  last — the  bottom  was 
reached ;  the  last  cupful  of  water  was  passed  over 
the  side;  then  with  his  knife  and  a  few  rags  he 
carefully  examined  the  entire  bottom  and  sides  of 
the  vessel,  and  wherever  he  saw  any  water  oozing 
through  he  would  carefully  force  some  rags  in,  and 
in  most  cases  was  successful  in  stopping  the  incom- 
ing water. 

He  now  took  a  good  long  rest  of  several  days, 
excepting  that  he  had  stiU  to  bail  every  day  for 
about  one  hour  on  the  water  that  would  still  come 
in  in  spite  of  all  that  he  could  do.  He  next  turned 
his  attention  to  getting  everything  on  board.     He 


226  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

constructed  a  rope  ladder  on  which  to  pass  over  the 
side  of  the  vessel.  How  to  move  the  fresh  water 
casks  on  board  bothered  him  again.  There  were 
no  small  casks  and  he  could  not  lift  the  large  ones 
over  the  side.  He  could  think  of  but  one  way, 
and  that  was  going  to  consume  more  time  than  he 
wished  to  spare,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it.  He 
entirely  emptied  one  cask  of  all  the  water,  then 
he  was  just  able,  by  means  of  ropes,  to  haul  it 
over  the  side  of  the  ship.  He  placed  the  enij^ty 
cask  on  the  bottom  inside,  then,  Mith  his  tin  cup, 
he  began  the  wearisome  task  of  bringing  the  water 
from  the  full  cask  outside  to  the  empty  one  inside. 
He  lost  much  time  ifi  this  tedious  process ;  then  he 
took  the  other  three  casks  and  emptied  all  the 
water  out  of  them,  carefully  replaced  their  bungs, 
and  brought  them  also  on  board.  He  knew  he 
was  on  a  very  rickety  craft,  that  would  founder 
at  the  first  show  of  a  heavy  blow,  then  these  empty 
casks  would  make  another  good  raft  if  he  were 
compelled  to  continue  tliis  "life  on  the  ocean 
wave."  But  he  writes  in  his  MSS.:  "  I  had  fully 
made  \\^  my  mind  that  rather  than  have  to  Under- 
go such  another  struggle  I  would  go  at  once  to 
heaven  and  have  done  ^vith  it.  These  struggles 
for  hash  were  too  severe  ;  they  did  not  pay." 

Many  days  yet  elapsed  before  he  was  ready  to 
start.    He  an*anged  ropes  so  that  he  could  haul 


^^LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.^^  227 

two  of  liis  small  spars  aboard  the  bark;  then  to 
raise  one  of  tbem  up  by  the  stump  of  the  burnt 
mast  and  fasten  it  there  took  much  time.  Then 
there  was  the  sail  to  be  attached  to  that,  and  thence 
to  the  sides  of  the  vessel,  and  the  helm  to  be  fixed, 
and  all  in  such  a  way  that  he  could  turn  the  sail 
when  necessary  so  as  to  sail  at  right  angles  with 
the  wind,  or  nearly  so ;  also  be  able  to  raise  and 
lower  it  quickly  all  alone,  for  when  under  way  he 
would  have  to  steer  and  manage  the  sails  at  the 
same  time. 

All  these  arrangements  took  very  much  time, 
very  much  thought,  and  very  much  labor.  But 
at  last,  and  after  many  days'  constant  occupation, 
the  ship  was  prepared  as  well  as  he  could  prepare 
it,  and  he  who  was  to  be  captain  and  crew,  pilot 
and  passenger,  all  in  one,  stepped  aboard,  cast  loose 
from  the  old  masts  and  spars  to  which  he  had  been 
so  long  attached,  and  with  a  gentle  breeze  started 
in  search  of  a  "  square  meal." 

The  breezes  in  that  locality,  and  at  that  time  of 
year,  were  nearly  always  blowing  off  shore,  that  is 
from  the  east,  and  he  could  not  sail  against  them 
straight  toward  the  land,  but  he  was  in  hopes  that 
with  this  improved  craft  he  could  sail  a  few  points 
east  of  north  and  so  strike  the  coast  of  Vancouver's 
Island,  about,  as  he  estimated  then,  six  hundred 
miles  distant. 


228  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"We  will  not  relate  in  detail  tlie  monotonous  rou- 
tine of  duties  wliicli,  for  seven  days,  he  passed 
tbrougli  before  lie  reached  tlie  coast.  The  weather, 
fortunately  for  liim,  remained  pleasant  and  the 
vrinds  steady. 

To  manage  the  sail  and  the  helm  at  the  same 
time  lequired  all  his  attention  for  about  seventeen 
hours  a  day.  Then  he  would  haul  down  his  sail 
and  sleep  the  remaining  thne.  Had  tliere  been  a 
storm  or  even  heav}^  winds  his  craft  would  surely 
have  filled  witli  water,  in  which  case  he  had  already 
prepared  a  raft  made  of  the  empty  water  casks 
lashed  together,  and  fixed  with  a  platform  and 
pole  on  which  to  raise  a  small  sail,  and  also  on  the 
extreme  top  of  this  he  had  contrived  a  flag  of  dis- 
tress which  was  intended  constantly  to  float  in  the 
wind.  In  short,  with  two  empty  water-casks  as  a 
basis  he  had  contrived  and  arranged  a  perfectly 
safe  life  raft  which  would  have  kept  him  secure  for 
many  days  and  would  also  have  sailed  a  little.  It 
was  with  almost  a  feeling  of  disappointment  that 
he  finished  his  journey  without  being  obliged  to 
use  this  completely  aiTanged  craft. 

However,  when  the  dense  forests  which  border 
the  island  of  Vancouver  came  in  view  and  he  reahzed 
that  this  great  "  struggle  for  hash"  was  soon  to  be 
successfully  crowned  with  a  "  square  meal,"  his  joy 
and  delio;ht  knew  no  bounds.     Is'or  can  we  wonder 


"LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.'^  229 

at  it.  He  was  worn  out.  He  was  weak  from  scant 
and  imjDalatable  food,  and  his  cravings  for  some- 
thing to  eat  which  he  could  relish  had  tempted 
him  to  keep  up  his  sail  and  his  vessel  under  waj 
much  longer  each  day  than  he  should  have  done. 

His  hardships  and  trials  were  manifest  in  his 
emaciated  form  and  haggard  countenance,  and  he 
was  not  an  Adonis  in  his  appearance  when  he  at 
last  startled  the  natives  of  a  small  Indian  village  by 
running  the  remains  of  the  ill-fated  bark  "  Sylphy" 
in  full  force  upon  the  beach  in  front  of  their 
abodes. 

A  large  crowd  of  Indians,  squaws,  pappooses, 
and  half-breeds  had  been  gathering  upon  the 
beach  ever  since  the  queer-looking  craft  had  come 
into  view,  and  were  now  congregated  in  open- 
mouthed  astonishment  to  witness  the  landing  of 
the  only  person  visible  in  or  about  her.  And 
when  he  came  straight  on  without  lowering  his 
sail  or  slackening  speed  tbey  drew  back  in  super- 
stitious awe  as  though  they  expected  his  vessel 
could  travel  over  land  as  well  as  upon  the  water. 

The  first  inquiry  of  our  friend  upon  landing  was 
for  some  coffee,  beef,  and  potatoes.  He  spoke  to 
some  of  the  half-breeds  present,  but,  unfortunately, 
not  a  soul  could  speak  English— only  an  Indian 
dialect,  and  "Chinook,"  which  latter  is  a  species  of 
compromise  between  the  former  and  EngHsh. 


230  I]^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

So  neither  party  could  compreliend  the  other. 
But  he  soon  started  around  among  the  huts  in 
search  of  such  food  as  he  could  find,  and  was  suc- 
cessful in  procuring  some  hot  boiled  beef  and  po- 
tatoes, and  at  another  hut  he  was  served  with  some 
coffee,  and  tliesc,  being  the  first  of  either  that  he 
liad  tasted  for  many  days,  were  eaten  with  great 
gusto. 

lie  then  brought  off  many  things  from  the  ves- 
sel, which  he  distributed  among  the  people,  and 
finally,  by  much  signaling  and  many  motions,  he 
contrived  to  make  the  head  men  of  the  tribe  un- 
derstand that  he  would  give  them  numy  yards  of 
cloth  if  they  would  send  him  in  one  of  their  im- 
mense canoes  along  the  coast  to  the  nearest  white 
man's  settlement,  which  they  told  him  was  about 
four  days'  travel. 

It  was  while  this  bargaining  was  going  on  that 
the  head  chief  of  the  tribe  approached  Lockwell, 
leading  three  young  and  comely  ladies,  which  he 
made  Lockwell  understand  were  among  the  very 
choicest  of  his  wives,  but  he  would  give  them  to 
him  in  exchange  for  the  vessel  and  cargo !  Lock- 
well  blushed  as  he  gently  but  firmly  declined  the 
seductive  offer. 

A  bargain  was  finally  concluded  by  which  he 
was  to  be  carried  to  Victoria,  the  capital  of  British 
Columbia,   in  exchange  for   the   ship  and  cargo. 


^' LIFE  ON  THE  OCEAN  WAVE.^^  231 

And  to  this  place  he  was  accordingly  taken,  where 
he  created  no  little  surprise  when  he  rejDorted  who 
he  was,  as  the  fate  of  the  vessel  had  been  reported 
by  the  captain  and  crew,  all  of  whom  arrived  safely 
upon  the  coast  of  Oregon. 

Remaining  in  Victoria  but  a  few  days  he  took 
the  Puget  Sound  steamer  for  Seattle,  his  originally 
objective  point.  Here  he  remained  for  several 
months,  engaged,  more  or  less  successfully,  in  land 
speculations  and  investments. 


232  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  X7II. 

ADVENTURES   IN   SOUTH   AMERICA. 

Ajbout  eight  montlis  after  his  arrival  on  Puget 
Sound  we  tind  by  his  records  that  he  had  his  mind 
made  up  to  search  for  gold  mines  in  newer  lields. 
This  time  his  plan  of  operation  was  to  go  from  one 
end  of  tlie  Andes  in  South  America  to  the  other,  or 
at  least  until  he  should  meet  with  success.  He  re- 
turned to  New  York  and  sailed  thence  to  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Colombia. 

He  entered  the  Magdalena  Piver  from  the  Carib- 
bean Sea  and  passed  up  to  near  its  head-waters. 
Most  of  the  navigation  of  the  river  above  Honda, 
the  head  of  steamboat  navigation,  was  made  in  large 
canoes.  These  were  pushed  up  by  means  of  long 
poles.  The  canoe  in  which  Lockwell  embarked  to 
make  a  voyage  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
above  Honda  was  about  forty  feet  long,  and  cut 
out  two  feet  deep,  and  nearly  four  feet  wide.  It 
was  covered  over  by  means  of  bent  sticks,  hke 
bows,  rising  up  from  the  sides  to  the  height  of 
nearly  two  more  feet,  and  were  placed  about  three 
feet  apai-t ;  poles  were  then  tied  on  to  these,  and  all 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        233 

tiglitlj  tliatched.     This  gave  a  circular  opening  on 
the  inside  of  nearly  four  feet  in  diameter,  and  two 
thirds  of  the  length  of  this  craft  was  occupied  by 
freight,  lea\ang  only  a  small  portion,  say  twelve 
feet  in  length,  to  be  occupied  by  the  passengers,  of 
A\  horn  there  were  three  including  Lockwell.     The 
four  men  who  were  conducting  the  canoe  walked 
upon  the  top  of  their  boat,  which  they  kept  near  the 
shore,  and  pushed  it  along  by  means  of  long  poles, 
the  ends  of  which  they  either  placed  agamst  the 
bottom,  the  banks,  or  the  overhanging  branches  of 
the  dense  forests  which  border  the  streams  in  the 
lowlands  of  all  tropical  countries.     Fifteen  miles  a 
day  was  about  the  average,  and  for  eight  days  the 
passengers  were  thus  cooped  up  in  a  space  which 
would  not  allow  of  their  sitting  up,  and  as  there  was 
only  two  lengths  to  lie  down  in,  two  of  them  had 
to  lie  side  by  side  in  the  narrow  bottom  of  the 
canoe.     As  there  was  no  window  or  aperture  of  any 
kind,  except  at  the  ends,  not  only  was  the  view  ex- 
eluded,  but  the  atmosphere  on  the  inside  was  ex- 
tremely close  and  hot.     At  night  they  were  all  but 
killed  by  the  mosquitoes,  and  in  this  rather  uncom- 
fortable manner  the  eight  days  of  their  journey  were 
performed.     And  in  this  way  very  much  of  the 
travel  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  South  American 
rivers  is  performed.     And  that,  too,  on  rivers  which 
would  afford  ample  facilities  for  the  introduction  of 


234  IZV^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

steam  navigation,  and  nothing  but  the  ntter  worth- 
lessness  of  the  inhabitants,  most  of  whom  liave 
Indian  l)lood  in  their  veins,  j^revents  them  from 
developing  their  naturally  rich  country,  and  taking 
a  stand  at  least  among  the  second  or  third-rate  na- 
tions of  the  world.  It  is  extremely  difficult  for  a 
traveler  among  these  Spanish-American  countries 
to  realize  that  these  unambitious,  degraded,  con- 
temptible, and  worthless  inhabitants  are  the  descend- 
ants of  the  valiant  and  intrepid  Spanish  conquerors 
of  America,  and  of  the  highly  civilized  Inca  and 
Aztec  Indian  races.  Three  hundred  years  of  Chris- 
tian rule  has  placed  these  countries  just  three  centu- 
ries behind  and  below  where  they  were  when  the 
Spaniard  first  placed  his  foot  upon  their  soil.  It 
presents  a  vast  field  for  the  speculations  of  the  eth- 
nologist to  determine  why  the  union  of  two  such 
superior  races  of  men  as  the  Spaniards  were  in  tliose 
days  and  the  gentle  and  industrious  Incas  should 
have  produced  the  present  Spanish-Americans — 
creatures  wholly  incapable  of  self-government  or 
self-improvement.  We  know  if  these  people  had 
improved  as  much  as  they  have  really  retrograded 
during  these  three  centuries  the  cause  would  have 
been  at  once  attributed  to  their  rehgion :  to  the  su- 
periority of  the  Christian  over  the  Inca  religion,  but 
as  they  have  steadily  retrograded  we  must  look  for 
the  cause  elsewhere.     It  seems  to  be  a  general  rule 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.       235 

that  in  the  union  of  two  races  the  inferior  character- 
istics of  each  will  descend,  while  their  superior 
qualities  become  extinct.  Thus  with  these  people ; 
tliey  inlierit  all  the  old  Spanish  contempt  for  manual 
labor  with  not  a  vestige  of  the  ancient  Inca  industry ; 
they  inherit  all  the  Inca  incapacity  for  martial  un- 
dertakings with  no  sign  of  that  dauntless  intrepidity 
that  characterized  the  conquerors  ;  they  inherit  all 
the  reason-destroying  superstition  of  both  races.  In 
short,  add  together  all  the  faults  and  failings  of  both 
nations  with  none  of  their  good  qualities  and  you 
have  the  portrait  of  the  present  Spanish- American, 
whether  found  in  Mexico  or  Yenzuela,  Ecuador  or 
San  Salvador. 

Yet  the  writer  of  these  lines  has  received  as  much 
and  as  sincere  kindness  from  individuals  in  these 
countries  as  it  was  possible  to  have  encountered  any- 
where, but  this  could  not  and  should  not  blind  his 
eyes  to  the  facts  which  are  patent  upon  every  side. 

Eight  long  months  Lockwell  spent  prospecting 
for  gold  among  the  mountains  immediately  to  the 
west  of  the  Magdalena  River,  but  without  finding 
the  precious  metal  in  quantities  that  he  thought 
would  justify  him  in  preparing  to  work  the  ground. 
He  had  traveled  through  almost  impenetrable  for- 
ests, through  every  foot  of  which  he  had  cut  his 
way  with  the  long,  broad-bladed  knives  called 
machetes,  which   nearly  every   one    carries  down 


236  JiV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

there,  and  which  are  absolutely  necessary  if  any  one 
intends  to  penetrate  for  any  distance  through  the 
wooded  lowlands.  Every  man  you  hire,  either  as  a 
laborer  or  a  guide,  will  come  armed  'svith  one  of 
these  fonnidable  looking  weapons,  and  in  the 
hands  of  one  accustomed  to  their  use  they  are  not 
to  be  despised. 

Two  months  previous  to  the  misfortunes  of  our 
hero  which  we  are  about  to  recount  he  had  fallen 
in  with  another  prospector,  and  the  two  were  then 
traveling  together.  For  five  days  they  had  pros- 
pected in  the  mountains  without  coming  into  the 
settlements.  They  were  among  the  densely-wooded 
hills  and  they  were  about  to  find  their  way  back  to 
the  nearest  town,  as  their  supply  of  provisions 
was  just  exhausted ;  still  there  was  one  high 
mountain,  bare  of  trees  at  the  extreme  top,  which 
now  jDresented  itself  to  their  view,  but  a  little 
further  in  the  wilderness,  and  this  bald  mountain 
they  determined  to  examine  before  returning. 
Only  the  blunted  top  of  this  peak  and  a  few  rods 
down  the  sides  were  bare  of  vegetation ;  then  the 
trees  and  bushes  began,  very  thinly  at  first,  but  in- 
creasing in  density  till  near  the  bottom,  where  the 
usual  intermingling  of  trees,  bushes,  and  vines 
formed  an  impenetrable  mass  for  any  one  who 
should  try  to  scale  the  steep  acclivity  without  the 
all-serviceable  "machete." 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.       237 

Commencing  tlie  ascent  by  cutting  their  way, 
they  were  soon  able  to  sheathe  their  knives,  and  by 
dint  of  a  little  squeezing  pass  on  without  being 
compelled  to  cut.  After  several  hours  of  intense 
labor  they  arrived  at  the  top,  and  found  the  only 
thing  that  repaid  them  in  any  way  for  their  trouble 
was  the  splendid  view  they  had  on  all  sides. 
Fifteen  miles  off  they  could  plainly  behold  the  little 
town  where  five  days  before  they  had  started  out 
with  their  provisions,  which  were  now  exhausted, 
and  this  reminded  them  that  they  had  better  re- 
trace their  steps  before  they  began  to  suffer  from 
cold  and  hunger,  for  the  mountain,  although  very 
near  the  equator,  was  so  high  as  to  be  very  cold, 
and  was  subject  to  fierce  squalls  of  hail  and  snow, 
often  keeping  its  bald  head  white  for  hours.  Even 
as  they  started  down  a  cold  drizzling  rain  began  to 
fall,  which  soon  wet  them  through  and  made  them 
very  uncomfortable.  They  proceeded  but  a  short 
way  down  before  the  tracks  w^hich  they  had  made 
in  their  ascent  became  entirely  obliterated  by  the 
rain,  and  they  were  very  uncertain  as  to  what  course 
to  follow.  Coming  to  a  steep  gulch  or  ravine, 
which  intercepted  their  direct  course  and  compelled 
them  either  to  go  to  the  right  or  the  left,  they 
differed  strongly  as  to  w^hich  side  to  turn,  but 
finally  adopted  the  left,  and  kept  on  till  they  had 
nearly    reached    the    bottom,   when  both  became 


238  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

satisfied  tliat  tliey  were  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
mountain,  and  fearing  to  get  lost  in  the  unhmited 
wilderness  of  forests  on  the  west  side  of  it  they  re- 
traced their  steps  again  to  the  extreme  barren  sum- 
mit, and  there  with  the  town  in  view  which  thej 
wished  to  go  to  they  took  a  fresh  start  and  got  near 
the  bottom  of  tliis  mountain  again,  but  once  more 
the  fear  possessed  them  that  they  were  on  the 
^Tong  side,  and  they  reclimbed  to  the  summit  still 
again.  Their  situation  was  now  critical,  and  star- 
vation stared  them  in  the  face,  even  with  the  town 
they  wished  to  reach  not  over  fifteen  miles  distant 
and  in  plain  view. 

To  correctly  understand  the  difiiculties  of  their 
position  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  the 
mountain  was  surrounded  on  all  sides,  and  for  a 
long  way  up  its  surface,  by  an  extremely  dense 
forest,  which  at  once  shut  out  from  view  any  object 
which  our  prospectors  could  have  taken  to  guide 
them  in  their  course,  and  this  dense  forest  extended 
for  an  unknown  distance  toward  the  west,  and  a 
person  penetrating  but  a  few  rods  into  it  might, 
and  probably  would,  become  so  confused  and  un- 
certain of  his  direction  as  to  become  totally  and 
irretrievably  lost.  This  our  adventurers  were  very 
well  aware  of,  and  every  time  they  would  reach  the 
base  of  this  mountain  they  were  afraid  they  were 
not  on  the  right   side,  and  so  retrace  their  steps 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        239 

to  take  a  new  view  and  a  fresh  start ;  this  was  re- 
peated many  times,  till  night  came  on  and  found 
them  on  the  toj)  of  the  mountain,  with  every  view 
cut  off  by  the  dusk  and  gloom  of  a  rainy  night. 
Not  a  pleasant  prospect!     They  now  knew  they 
would  have  to  pass  the  night  in  this  dismal  place ; 
wet  through  to  the  skin,  they  took  off  their  coats 
and  wrung  a  great  deal  of  the  water  out  of  them, 
then  replaced  them  on  their  shivering  bodies.     ISTot 
a  place  of  shelter  was  there  of  any  kind  for  them. 
Nothing  to  do  but  to  huddle  together  on  the  cold 
bare  ground  and  shiver.     After  dark  their  comfort 
was  not  increased  by  the  steady  rain,  gradually  turn- 
ing into  snow,  which  fell  in  great  abundance,  and 
slowly  melted  upon  their  famishing,  shaking  frames. 
All  that  saved  them  from  perishing  then  and  there 
was  the  getting  up  occasionally  and  running  rapidly 
around  in  a  circle ;  then  they  would  again  lay  down, 
hugged  as  tightly  as  possible  in  each  other's  em- 
brace.    Thus  passed  a  night  of  suffering  scarcely 
excelled  by  any  in  his  eventful  life.     When  they 
first  laid  down  they  had  a  great   fear  of  snakes — 
many  very  large  ones  were  known  to  be  in  that 
vicinity — but  their  miserable  condition  soon  banish- 
ed all  such  fears,  and  it  was  scarcely  probable  they 
would  have  moved  out  of  the  way  had  they  known 
the  largest  snake  of  the  Andes  was  approaching 
them. 


a40  JJV  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

With  the  approach  of  day  a  slight  feeling  of  re- 
newed energy  crept  into  their  spirits,  and  they  re- 
solved to  renew  the  search  for  an  outlet.  Looking 
well  through  all  their  pockets  they  found  two  or 
three  very  small  crackers,  also  about  a  quarter  of 
a  pound  of  raw  meat,  which  they  devoured,  and 
then  proceeded  to  look  for  an  escape.  But  we  will 
not  follow  them  through  all  that  tedious  day, 
which  ended,  like  the  preceding,  in  total  disappoint- 
ment. Again  they  cast  themselves  in  silent  de- 
spair upon  the  ground  to  pass  another  night.  For- 
tunately for  them  the  rain  liad  cea^^cd  in  the  morn- 
ing, so  that  their  clothes  were  partially  dried  during 
the  after  part  of  the  day,  and  they  were  not  com- 
pelled to  pass  quite  so  severe  a  night,  though  they 
were  now  feeling  the  want  of  food. 

It  was  not  until  during  the  afternoon  of  the  suc- 
ceeding day  that  they  were  able  to  find  their  old 
trail  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  and  then  they 
had  almost  wholly  abandoned  all  hope  of  ever  ex- 
tricating themselves  from  their  perilous  position. 
However,  as  we  have  said,  they  at  last  found,  near 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  the  marks  of  their  own 
knives  upon  the  bushes,  and  the  opening  which 
they  had  cut  through  the  dense  imderbrush,  and 
before  dark  they  were  safe  once  more  in  the  town 
they  had  so  often  viewed  from  the  top  of  the 
mountain  in  which  they  had  wandered  for  two  days 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        241 

past.  The  next  morning,  on  casting  tlieir  eyes  up 
toward  the  bald  peak  they  saw  it  was  covered  with 
snow,  and  shuddered  as  they  realized  that  had  their 
escape  been  delayed  till  another  day  they  could  not 
by  any  possibility  have  existed  through  the  preced- 
ing night. 

The  excessive  hardship  which  Lock  well  had  just 
passed  through  was  not  without  its  effect  upon 
him.  He  had  been  in  town  only  a  few  hours 
when  he  was  attacked  with  a  violent  fever,  which 
wholly  prostrated  him.  Once  more  his  situation 
was  most  deplorable.  Yery  ill  with  a  severe  attack 
of  a  malignant  fever,  among  strangers,  in  a  strange 
place,  and  with  no  hotel  accommodations  whatever. 
His  companion  now  manifested  that  depravity  of 
human  nature  which  never  was  suspected  by  Lock- 
well,  whose  disposition  and  character  presented  so 
strong  a  contrast.  Professing  for  him  the  greatest 
friendship,  and  really,  for  a  few  days,  besto\ving 
upon  the  sick  man  the  greatest  care  and  attention, 
he  suddenly  disappeared,  taking  with  him  all  Lock- 
well's  money  and  valuables,  to  the  last  cent !  Un- 
able to  leave  his  bed,  suffering  intensely  with  the 
fever,  and  lacking  all  those  little  comforts  only  ob- 
tainable in  civilized  countries,  our  friend  lay  back 
on  his  rude  couch  thinking  tliat  this  last  blow  was 
the  feather  that  would  break  the  camel's  back.  For 
the  first  time  in  his  life  he  felt  completely  discour- 


242  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

aged;  he  was  gradually  growing  worse,  and  lie 
shortly  became  convinced  that  it  was  his  deatli  sick- 
ness, lie  knew  that  with  the  care  and  conven- 
iences he  then  had  he  could  not  recover,  and  he  had 
not  a  cent  left  him  where^vith  to  buy  the  little  nec- 
essaries he  required,  nor  to  pay  for  any  attendance. 
Whatever  he  received  in  the  way  of  medicine,  food, 
care,  or  anything,  must  come  from  pure  charity, 
and  this  was  galling  to  his  proud  spirit.  He 
writhed  with  both  physical  and  mental  agony. 
He  grew  rapidly  worse.  He  received  nothing  but 
what  was  given  him  by  his  landlady,  a  poor  woman 
in  whose  house  he  had  hired  the  little  room  in 
^^^ich  he  lay,  and  wlio,  like  all  poor  people  in  that 
country,  lived  only  from  hand  to  mouth,  and  never 
had  two  days'  supply  of  provisions  in  lier  house. 
He  grew  delirious,  and  saw  visions  of  custards,  jel- 
lies, and  other  things  for  which  he  craved.  He 
cried  to  imaginary  nurses  to  hand  him  that  glass 
of  cool  lemonade  to  quench  his  burning  thirst. 
Then  he  thought  he  had  died  and  gone  to  hell! 
"  Great  Moses!''  he  exclaimed  ;  "to  think  that  there 
is  a  hell  after  all.  I  never  believed  it.  I  wonder 
which  one  of  all  those  religions  up  there  I  should 
have  adopted  to  steer  clear  of  this  place.  Perhaps 
the  Catholic;  if  so,  this  may  be  only  purgatory,  and 
I  will  get  out  after  a  while.  I  wonder  how  long 
I  am  in  for.     I  guess  it  can't  be  the  Catholic  re- 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.       243 

ligion  after  all.  It  must  be  some  religion  that  has 
not  yet  been  discovered ;  tben  I  don't  see  what  I 
am  here  for.  I  could  not  be  expected  to  believe  a 
religion  that  I  had  never  heard  of,  and  I  know  no 
man  of  sense  would  believe  any  of  the  religions  I 
have  heard  of.  By  Jove !  ain't  it  hot.  Still,  if  it 
don't  get  any  hotter  than  this  I  guess  I  can  stand 
it ;  but  perhaps  they  are  only  just  firing  Vi\>.  I  wish 
the  religion  of  the  sj^iritualists  was  true,  and  this 
was  the  first  sphere ;  I  guess  I  would  soon  crawl  out 
of  it  into  the  second  sphere;  it  would  be  cooler 
there,  you  bet.  I  wonder  if  a  fellow  should  gobble 
on  to  the  true  religion  here  if  they  would  not  cool 
it  do^vn  a  bit.  I'll  try  it ;  but  if  there  is  not  some 
one  here  to  give  directions  there  is  not  one  chance 
in  a  thousand  that  I  will  strike  the  right  religion. 
Let's  see ;  if  any,  it  must  be  the  first  religion,  that 
is,  the  oldest  one  ;  all  the  others  are  backslidings  ; 
the  oldest  one  is  beyond  question  the  Brahmin. 
Yes,  that  must  be  the  true  one,  if  any,  for  it  is  not 
only  the  oldest,  but  also  the  largest  sect ;  but  I  will 
be  hanged  if  I  know  what  I  must  do  or  believe  by 
that  religion  in  order  to  be  saved."  And  so  he 
wandered  on  in  these  senseless  and  often  incoherent 
ramblings  of  a  fevered  brain. 

But  a  small,  cool  hand  now  shoved  back  the  hair 
from  his  fevered  brow.  The  hard  and  well-worn 
bag  of  straw  which  served  as  a  pillow  was  quietly 


244  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

removed,  and  a  softer  one  of  finer  texture  substi- 
tuted in  its  place.  A  liandkercliief  dampened  in 
cold  water  was  pressed  to  his  temples ;  a  sootliing 
and  cooling  liquid  was  given  him  to  drink.  The 
patient  smiled  in  his  delirium.  "Ha!  ha!"  he 
laughed,  "  hv  jingo  !  I  struck  the  right  religion  the 
first  pop !  They  are  already  cooling  things  down, 
just  on  my  detcnnination  to  join  the  Brahminical 
church.  Of  course  any  fool  might  liave  known 
that  the  true  rehgion  would  l)e  the  first  one  given 
to  mankind — and  yet — somehow  I  always  thought 
that  fetichism  wms  much  older  than  the  faith  of 
the  Brahmins,  in  fact  the  only  religion  in  the  world 
a  miUion  years  ago;  but  I  must  not  think  such 
things  as  these,  or  they  may  heat  up  things  for  me 
again.  Xow  it  is  quite  comfortable  here,  and  I 
must  look  around  sharp  ior  some  venerable  Brah- 
min priest  to  post  me  in  the  true  religion."  lie 
opened  wide  his  eyes,  and  saw  bending  over  him 
the  very  plain  (we  dislike  to  say  intensely  homely) 
form  of  the  young  lady  who  had  entered  his  room, 
and  by  administering  to  the  comfort  of  his  suffer- 
ing body  had,  unconsciously,  thereby  made  a  con- 
vert of  his  mind  to  the  Brahminical  faith. 

"Halloa  !"  said  our  hero,  on  opening  his  eyes. 

"  Sefior  ?"  she  replied. 

"  Halloa  I"  he  repeated. 

"  Senor  ?"  she  inquired  again. 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        245 

"  Sjjauisli,  too !  "Well,  of  all  the  languages  that 
I  ever  expected  they  would  choose  to  speak  in 
heaven  this  is  the  last  one.  I  wonder  why  they 
did  not  adopt  English ;  it  was  certainly  the  language 
of  the  best  people  on  earth." 

Again  his  ro\4ng  eye  in  that  darkened  room 
caught  the  features  of  his  nurse  still  bending  over 
him. 

"  Halloa !"  he  said. 
"  Seilor  ?" 

"  Well,  I'll  be  hanged,"  feebly  murmured  the  in- 
valid, "  if  they  can't  scare  up  a  prettier  girl  than 
this  to  give  a  new  and  ardent  convert  in  the 
Brahminical  heaven  I  will  change  my  religion  yet. 
Yes,  yes,"  he  went  on  in  his  foolish  way,  his  mind 
being  in  about  the  same  condition  as  one  who  is 
nearly  three  thirds  drunk.  "  Yes,  yes,  if  this  is  a 
fair  specimen  of  the  pretty  girls  up  here  I  don't 
think  they  improve  much  when  they  leave  the 
body.  Halloa !"  he  said  again  as  his  eye  once  more 
caught  her  features,  "  you  are  homely  enough  to  be 
awful  good." 

"  Que  dice  usted,  Seilor  ?" 

Then  he  fell  into  a  sleep,  sounder  and  more  quiet 
than  he  had  enjoyed  for  many  hours,  and  almost 
immediately  thereafter  two  half-breed  Indians  en- 
tered the  room  and  stood  at  a  respectable  distance 
from  the  lady.      They  were  di'essed  in  the  semi- 


246  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

civnlized  garh  of  tlie  peons  or  servants  of  the  bet- 
ter classes.  The  lady  placed  fresh  handkerchiefs 
dipi>ed  in  cold  water  upon  his  head,  and  then,  mo- 
tioning to  these  peons,  they  came  forward,  and  care- 
fully raising  the  couch  on  which  our  hero  was  now 
calmly  sleeping,  passed  with  it  outside  the  house, 
the  lady  following,  murmuring  in  her  li(]uid  Castil- 
ian,  "  Pobrecito,  Pobrecito." 

Outside  she  gave  some  directions  in  Spanish  to 
the  peons,  then  passed  across  the  plaza  and  up  the 
side-street  to  her  home,  about  three  Idocks  distant, 
and  followed  by  the  peons  and  their  burden.  Ar- 
riving at  her  house,  a  large,  but  low  and  unpreten- 
tious building,  evidently  belonging  to  one  in  mod- 
erate circumstances,  our  sick  friend  was  carried  into 
a  large  spare  room  on  the  first  floor,  very  plainly  fur- 
nished, V)ut  clean  and  comfortable,  and  laid  on  a  nice 
bed  in  one  comer,  without  disturbing  his  slumbers. 

He  slept  all  the  remaining  portion  of  that  after- 
noon and  all  the  succeeding  night,  and  when  he 
awoke  on  the  morning  of  the  day  following  no 
one  was  in  the  room.  He  was  in  his  right  mind, 
but  so  feeble  and  utterly  prostrate  he  could  not 
for  some  minutes  recall  how  he  came  to  be  sick ; 
but,  as  memory  slowly  came  back  to  him,  he 
turned  to  see  if  the  old  landlady  of  his  room  was 
anywhere  in  sight,  and  was  surprised  to  find  him- 
self in  strange  quarters. 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        247 

The  fever  had  evidently  broken,  but  left  him  in 
that  very  low  condition  from  which  he  could  only 
rally  by  the  most  careful  nursing  and  with  the 
most  proper  diet.  He  was  deep  in  wonder  as  to 
where  he  was,  and  how  he  got  there,  when  the 
same  young  lady  entered  who  liad  been  with  him 
on  the  previous  day  during  his  ravings,  but  he  did 
not  recognize  her,  though  he  had  a  dim  impression 
he  had  seen  her  somewhere.  She  went  straight 
up  to  his  couch,  and,  jilacing  her  hand  upon  his 
brow,  said  in  Spanish,  of  which  he  could  understand 
enough  to  gather  her  meaning: 

"Oh,  you  are  much  better,  but  you  must  not 
talk  ;  no,  not  one  word.  I  know  very  well  what 
you  want  to  know.  You  want  to  know  how  you 
came  here  ?  Well,  I  brought  you ;  you  want  to 
know  where  you  are  ? — in  the  house  of  my  father, 
Sen  or  Guerrero,  and  I  am  his  daughter,  and  here 
you  will  stay  until  you  get  entirely  well,  then  you 
will  return  to  your  own  friends  and  country.  But 
your  companion  has  gone  away — left  you;  is  not 
tliat  strange  ?  Never  mind,  he  is  a  bad  man,  and  the 
Sefior  is  much  better  off  without  him.  Now  eat  a 
little  of  this  soup  with  toasted  bread  in  it,  and  when 
you  feel  thirsty  drink  some  of  this  water  which 
has  been  prepared  by  boiling  with  some  herbs,  but 
don't  say  a  word  nor  attempt  to  speak  ;  'tis  not  good 
for  you,  and,  after  you  have  eaten,  then  go  to  sleep 


248  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

again."  She  placed  tlie  refresliments  close  to  his 
bed,  said  "  Adios,"  and  was  gone. 

In  his  weak,  debilitated  state  he  cried  hke  a  child 
at  the  great  kindness  of  these  people  ;  then  the  con- 
sideration of  his  own  condition  did  not  tend  to  con- 
sole him. 

He  had  not  a  cent  in  the  world  to  recompense 
these  people  for  their  trouljle.  lie  was  always  dis- 
posed to  be  grateful  for  the  least  favors,  and  never 
easy  till  he  had  returned,  when  possil^le,  every  obli- 
gation he  nn'ght  receive. 

With  the  tears  still  running  down  his  cheek  he 
turned  on  liis  side  and  fell  asleep. 

His  convalescence  was  slow,  but  owing  to  the 
constant  care  he  received  from  this  family,  his  're- 
covery was  not  doubtful.  It  seems  that  hearing  of 
the  sick  stranger  in  the  town,  the  eldest  daughter, 
who  appeared  to  occupy  all  her  S2)are  time  in  acts 
of  mercy  and  charity,  called  to  ascertain  how  he 
was,  and  seeing  that  good  care  alone  would  prevent 
that  malignant  fever  from  having  a  fatal  termina- 
tion, she  had  returned  to  her  home  and  persuaded 
her  father  to  allow  her  to  bring  him  to  the  house, 
which  permission  she  acted  upon  without  loss  of 
time.  The  days  passed  wearily  for  our  hero,  and 
his  recovery  was  greatly  retarded,  no  doubt,  by  the 
fact  that  his  mind  was  in  a  state  of  greater  depres- 
sion than  he  had  experienced  before  in  his  whole 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        249 

life.  Totally  destitute,  tlie  present  condition  of 
the  surrounding  country  rendered  it  impossible  for 
him  to  send  to  his  friends  in  the  United  States  for 
any  assistance,  and  now  the  questions  kept  con- 
stantly recurring  to  his  mind  :  how  was  he  to  leave 
the  country  ?  how  was  he  to  recompense  in  any  way 
tlie  kind  family  who  had  taken  him,  a  stranger,  and 
brought  him  through  the  crisis  of  his  fever  ?  for  well 
he  knew  that  but  for  the  unremitting  care  and  at- 
tention which  he  had  received  just  at  the  critical 
period  of  his  existence  he  would  not  now  be  alive. 
The  family  at  whose  house  he  was  now  domiciled 
(consisted  of  the  father,  mother,  and  the  oldest 
daughter,  with  whom  we  have  been  made  ac- 
quainted, her  two  sisters  and  two  l)rothers,  all  but 
the  two  latter  of  which  were  at  home ;  and  the  two 
brothers  only  were  married. 

The  care  and  kindness  which  he  received  from 
the  whole  family  could  not  have  been  excelled  had 
he  been  their  own  brother  instead  of  a  total  strans-er, 
and  a  foreigner,  and  of  another  religion,  for  though 
he  had  not  adopted  any  of  the  superstitions  of  the 
day,  he  was,  of  course,  considered  a  Protestant. 
The  unremitting  attention  to  his  comfort  from  the 
oldest  daughter,  which  had  never  faltered  from  the 
moment  she  brought  him  to  the  house  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  created  within  him  feelings  of  the  utmost 
gratitude  and  respect.     He  knew  that  the  family 


250  IN  SEARCH  OF  OOLD. 

were  tlieii  not  at  all  wealthy,  tliougli  they  had  seen 
much  better  days.  One  of  the  constantly  recurring 
revolutions  had  stripped  them  of  most  of  their 
property  and  left  them  in  straightened  circum- 
stances, although  not  in  actual  poverty. 

As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  sit  up  the  oldest  daugh- 
ter would  bring  her  work  and  endeavor  to  cheer  and 
console  him  by  her  sympathy  and  what  little  con- 
versation she  could  assist  him  in  carrying  on.  She, 
like  most  of  the  ladies  of  the  place,  had  never  been 
further  than  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  town, 
and  had  never  in  her  life  seen  another  city.  The 
only  means  of  traveling  in  that  vicinity  were  on 
horseback.  Although'  a  town  of  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  there  was  not  a  four-wheeled 
vehicle  in  the  place;  not  a  paper  was  published, 
nor  a  bookstore  in  the  place ;  not  a  book  could  be 
borrowed,  or  a  newspaper  either,  except,  perhaps,  a 
few  old  religious  books  and  one  or  two  copies  of 
Don  Quixote.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
mind  of  the  lady  was  not  and  could  not  be  much 
developed,  and  she  listened  with  intense  interest  as 
the  invalid  endeavored  to  interest  her  by  full  de- 
scriptions of  countries  which  she  had  scarcely  heard 
of.  Alas,  he  succeeded  in  interesting  her  only  too 
well.  It  was  the  old  play  of  Desdemona  and 
Othello  enacted  once  more.  But  it  was  many  days 
before  the  convalescent  had  any  idea  of  the  true 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        251 

condition  of  matters.  He  had  striven  with  all  his 
power  to  please  and  interest  her,  that  being  the 
very  smallest,  and,  alas,  the  only  acknowledgment 
that  he  was  able  to  make  her  for  all  she  had  done 
for  him.  The  thought  that  all  this  time  he  was 
winning  the  pure  and  devoted  love  of  this  noble 
and  unsophisticated  girl  never  for  an  instant 
crossed  his  mind.  Although  no  thought  of  love 
other  than  fraternal  ever  would  or  could  be  enter- 
tained by  him  toward  her,  yet  he  reverenced  the 
girl  for  her  pure  nobleness  of  heart,  and  when  at 
last  he  could  no  longer  fail  to  see  that  she  had 
poured  out  the  rich  treasures  of  her  heart  upon 
him  and  accepted  him  as  her  idol,  it  brought  the 
severest  pang  of  anguish  he  had  ever  known  in  his 
life.  To  bring  misery  upon  one  to  whom  he  owed 
his  very  life ;  whose  constant  strivings  to  j^romote 
his  comfort  had  been  from  the  first  so  purely  un- 
selfish, was  torture  to  his  highly  honorable  and 
keenly  sensitive  nature.  "  Would  to  God,"  he  ex- 
claimed in  bitterness  of  spirit,  "  that  she  had  let  me 
die  when  she  found  me  raving  in  the  delirium  of 
fever  upon  the  verge  of  the  grave.  Far,  far  better 
that  way  than  that  I  should  repay  her  by  bringing, 
however  innocently,  only  misery  upon  her  young 
life."  Then  the  thought  would  come  to  him,  why 
not  marry  her  ?  Oh,  no  ;  to  take  her  to  live  in  the 
States  of  North  America,  away  from  all  friends  and 


252  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

associates  to  wliicli  she  has  been  accustomed,  and 
where  the  manners  and  customs  are  so  totally  dif- 
ferent, and  where  she  knows  not  one  word  of  the 
language,  would  only  increase  her  misery,  even  if 
the  climate,  so  wholly  different  from  anything  she 
had  ever  seen,  did  not  kill  her  out  light.  Then  the 
still,  small  voice  of  conscience,  that  monitor  of  his 
own  creation,  distinctly  said  :  ''  You  are  now  clearly 
trying  to  find  excuses  from  doing  what  is  plainly 
your  duty  :  you  know  what  you  ought  to  do,  how- 
ever disagreeable  it  may  seem.  If  it  has  been  your 
proud  boast  never  once  to  have  avoided  that  path 
of  duty  laid  out  before  you  by  your  code  of  morals, 
Nvill  yt>u  shun  it  now?  You  know  perfectly  well, 
however  much  you  may  try  to  deceive  yourself, 
that  youi-  duty  is  as  clear  as  noonday.  You  must 
marry  this  girl  and  remain  hei^e  with  her  to  devote 
the  life  which  she  has  saved  for  you  to  making  her 
happy,  for  you  know  that  the  perfect  hajDpiness  or 
utter  misery  of  her  whole  future  life  are  in  your 
hands  to  give  her  which  you  choose."  He  turned 
pale  as  the  full  truth  and  force  of  these  words 
passed  through  his  mind.  Let  not  the  reader,  who 
has  never  traveled  through  that  country,  imagine 
our  friend  was  making  a  mountain  out  of  a  mole 
hill,  and  that  to  marry  such  an  estimable  young 
lady  was  a  fate  rather  to  be  envied  than  otherwise. 
Highly  refined  and  sesthetic  in  his  tastes,  he  had 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMEBIC  A.       258 

only  managed  to  endure  the  privations  and  unre- 
fined associations  of  a  sojourn  in  South  Ameiica 
bj  constantly  thinking  of  the  happy  time  when  he 
should  return  again  to  the  land  of  civilization,  and 
now  to  have  to  remain  here  all  his  life,  away  from 
everything  that  is  conducive  toward  making  life 
enjoyable  ;  married  to  a  lady  intensely  homely,  and 
with  those  manners  which,  however  appropriate 
there,  rendered  her  absolutely  repulsive  in  his  for- 
eign eyes,  was  to  him  a  fate  from  which  death 
would  be  a  happy  relief. 

But  once  before,  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  when 
he  thought  death  or  dishonor  were  placed  before 
him  to  choose  which  he  would  take,  had  he  not 
chosen  death?  And  he  would  be  as  true  to  his 
principles  of  honor  now  as  then.  He  had  decided, 
but  oh !  how  he  wished  that  it  only  might,  now  as 
then,  all  turn  out  to  be  a  farce.  Alas,  there  could 
be  no  such  hope.  All  this  was  too  real,  too  true. 
Well,  he  would  devote  the  life  which  was  really 
hers  to  making  her  as  happy  as  he  could.  All  was 
settled  in  his  mind  and  he  felt  a  sense  of  relief  : 
something  of  the  kind  which  a  prisoner  must  feel 
when  the  long  trial  is  concluded  and  he  receives  his 
sentence  of  imprisonment  for  life.  If  he  could 
have  done  so  honorably,  willingly  would  Lockwell 
have  exchanged  his  lot  for  a  life-long  imprisonment 
in  the  jails  of  his  native  State ;  there,  at  least,  he 


254  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

could  have  food  cooked  soniewliat  after  tlie  manner 
that  he  had  always  been  accustomed  to;  there  he 
could  have  something  to  read  and  he  would  see  the 
daily  papers;  there  sympathizing  friends  would 
call  and  see  him  often.     Here,  n<jtliing. 

Weeks  passed  on  and  he  was  once  more  fully  re- 
covered in  liealtli,  and  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  look 
about  for  some  employment  whereby  he  could  earn 
his  livelihood.  He  told  the  family  that  he  had 
abandoned  all  idea  of  ever  returning  to  his  native 
country,  and  was  resolved  to  remain  among  them 
for  the  balance  of  his  life.  This  news  was  received 
with  great  surprise  and  pleasure  by  the  whole  fam- 
ily, and  the  face  of  the  oldest  daughter,  which  had 
been  pale  and  sad  of  late,  as  the  time  for  tinally 
parting  ^-Ith  Lockwell  was  supposed  to  be  drawing 
near,  beamed  with  pleasure  now.  An  arrangement 
was  soon  after  made  by  which  Lockwell  was  to  take 
charge  of  a  large  sugar  plantation  in  the  nearest 
lowlands,  and  on  very  advantageous  terms. 

As  there  was  no  further  reason  for  delay  he  pro- 
posed to  his  late  nurse,  and  her  face  became  fairly 
radiant  with  the  intense  joy  with  which  she  ac- 
cepted him.  Three  weeks  afterward  the  old  Catho- 
lic cathedral  witnessed  the  marriage  of  La  Sefiorita 
Rosa  Guerrero  to  Joseph  Lockwell,  by  the  bishop 
of  the  place.  The  whole  town  turned  out  to  wit- 
ness this  novel  wedding.     A  stranger  was  a  great 


ADVENTURES  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.        255 

rarity  at  any  time  in  this  far-off  and  wholly  se- 
cluded inland  town,  but  for  one  to  come  and  marry 
and  settle  down  there  was  an  event  the  like  of 
which  did  not  exist  in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  in- 
habitant. Wedding  trips  being  entirely  unknown 
in  that  comnmnity,  the  bride  and  groom  simply 
traveled  on  horseback  the  few  miles  separating  the 
plantation  from  the  town,  and  Lockwell  entered 
upon  the  routine  of  his  duties  at  the  former  place. 


25Q  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


MARRIED    LIFE. 


Weeks  passed  by.  Bui^ving  himself  all  the  time 
with  his  duties,  he  strove  to  cnish  every  liomesick 
feeling,  to  stifle  every  yearning  of  his  heart  for  the 
things  of  his  native  country.  Every  thought  of 
other  and,  for  him,  happier  lands  he  felt  was  trea- 
son toward  the  noble  girl  whose  every  thought  was 
of  him,  and  whose  dtnotion  he  felt  merited  the  best 
and  only  return  he  could  possibly  make,  fidelity  in 
thought  and  action.  Her  whole  time  was  spent  in 
studying  how  to  please  him  and  render  him  happy, 
witli  never  a  thought  for  herself. 

Thus  the  weeks  rolled  into  months  with  no 
change  of  interest  to  him.  He  tliought  at  last  that 
his  wife  was  growing  to  be  somewhat  sad  and  he 
asked  her  if  she  wa.s  not  well,  but  she  assured  him  she 
was  perfectly  well  and  happy,  yet  a  few  days  more 
and  he  could  see  distinctly  that  her  spirits  were 
depressed  by  some  unknown  cause.  He  questioned 
her  earnestly,  but  she  repeated  her  assurances  of 
perfect  health  and  happiness.  Then  he  scrutinized 
his  own  conduct  deeply  and  asked  himself  if  he  had 


MARRIED  LIFE.  257 

given  her  any  cause  for  sorrow,  but  he  felt  sure  he 
had  not.  Hoping  to  restore  her  spirits,  which  were 
now  so  low  that  he  greatly  feared  her  health  would 
become  impaired,  he  took  her  back  to  her  father's 
house  to  make  a  long  visit,  and,  leaving  her  there, 
returned  to  his  duties  at  the  plantation,  but  he  had 
been  there  only  three  days  when  he  received  a  mes- 
sage from  her  father  to  return  at  once,  as  she  appar- 
ently had  become  entirely  overcome  by  grief  at  his 
absence.  He  returned  at  once.  His  wife  threw 
herself  in  his  arms  and  moaned,  "  Oh,  my  husband, 
my  husband,  my  husband !"  and  crying  bitterly  all 
the  time.  The  most  urgent  and  anxious  inquiries 
failed  to  procure  for  him  any  satisfactory  explana- 
tion of  this  peculiar  state  of  affairs.  He  consulted 
her  parents  and  brothers  and  sisters,  but  they  could 
give  him  no  satisfaction.  He  was  greatly  distressed, 
for  he  feared  that  he  had,  unknowingly,  given  her 
some  cause  for  grief. 

He  took  her  back  to  his  plantation,  and  her  love 
for  him  seemed  to  have  taken  complete  possession 
of  her.  She  could  not  bear  that  he  should  pass  out 
of  her  sight  for  a  moment ;  she  followed  him  into 
the  fields.  In  the  house  she  would  often,  without 
any  notice,  throw  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  give 
way  to  the  most  violent  grief. 

One  day,  after  he  had  repeatedly  asked  her  what 
he  could  do  to  mitigate  her  grief,  he  said : 


258  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  Is  there  nothing  I  can  do  to  cahn  yon  ?  nothing 
to  alleviate  this  distress  V  She  sat  down  by  his  side 
and,  taking  his  hand  in  hers,  said : 

"  There  is  one  thing  yon  can  do  for  me,  if  you 
will,  that  will  greatly  relieve  me.  You  mnst 
solemnly  assure  me  that  you  will  do  it  before  I  tell 
yon  what  it  is." 

"  How  can  you  doubt,"  said  he,  "that  if  it  is  any- 
thing possible  I  will  gladly  do  it.  I,  who  owe  you 
everything,  most  willingly  promise." 

"  Nay,  that  is  not  enough  ;  take  this  sacred  cross 
and,  pressing  it  to  your  lips,  repeat  that  promise," 
and  she  handed  him  the  emblem  which  she  always 
carried.  He  did  as  rwjuested.  "Now,"  said  she, 
and  the  deep  sadness  of  her  voice  cut  him  to  the 
heart,  "you  nmst  leave  this  country  and  return  to 
your  friends.  I  will  remain  hei'e  but  you  must 
never  come  back."  A  thrill  of  joy  tingled  through 
his  veins.  Was  he  then  to  be  set  free  ?  And  was  she 
really  getting  tired  of  him  and  wished  him  to  leave 
her  ?  But  the  next  instant  he  cursed  himself  as  a 
base  ingrate  for  the  thought.  He  knew  this  request 
of  hers  was  made  only  because  she,  with  true 
womanly  intuition,  had  divined  that  he  was  long- 
ing for  his  own  country,  his  own  people,  and  his 
own  home,  and  though  the  promise  she  had  exacted 
had  wrung  her  heart  with  anguish,  yet  when  she 
felt  that  this  was   the  only  course  to  make  him 


MARRIED  LIFE.  259 

happy  she  had  gone  through  it  with  the  spirit  of  a 
raartyr,  and  now  sank  back  on  her  seat  a  limp  and 
helpless  mass. 

Again  and  again  he  cursed  himself  that  he  had 
not  better  guarded  the  secret  desires  of  his  nature, 
but  never  for  a  moment  had  he  supposed  that  she 
could  think  him  otherwise  than  contented  and  hapjiy. 
He  had  not  realized  that  his  every  look  and  gest- 
ure had  been  so  watched  by  an  anxious  love,  greater 
than  that  of  angels,  that  she  could  read  his  every 
thought,  and  knew  better  than  himself  his  intense 
longing  once  more  to  stand  upon  his  native  soil, 
and  she  resolved  that  he  should  be  ha23py  let  it  cost 
her  what  it  might.  He  gazed  down  upon  her  with 
looks  of  veneration  such  as  a  saint  might  regard  the 
Madonna  or  a  relic  of  the  holy  cross.  His  was  the 
very  soul  to  appreciate  such  goodness.  This  girl 
appeared  more  than  human  in  his  eyes ;  he  adored 
her,  but  could  not  love  her,  other  than  as  a  saint 
might  love  the  Madonna  or  a  priest  his  relic.  She, 
on  the  other  hand,  who  knew  the  beautiful  lives 
and  characters  of  all  her  saints  as  well  as  she  knew 
her  prayers,  venerated  them,  but  all  the  ardent  love 
of  her  pure  young  heart  was  lavished  upon  this  man, 
whom,  one  year  before,  she  had  never  heard  of,  and 
with  whose  character  she  had  had  but  little  oppor- 
tunity to  become  acquainted.  Strange  facts  these, 
but  observable  wherever  the  civilized  race  exists. 


2G0  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Kneeling  by  lier  side,  he  took  the  unresisting 
hand  in  his  and  raised  it  to  his  lips,  then  whispered 
but  one  word,  "  Never." 

She  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  placing  both  hands 
upon  her  heart,  cried  out  in  agony,  "  Oh,  my  God ! 
has  all  this  struggle  been  for  nothing  ?  But,"  she 
added,  sitting  down,  while  a  heavenly  smile  ap- 
peared upon  herUps,  "how  foolish  I  am;  of  course 
you  will  go,  you  must  go,  for  there  is  your  word  of 
honor,  and  there  is  your  oath,  and  you  cannot  break 
them.  Oh,  yes,  you  will  be  hap2)y  once  more,"  and 
again  that  smile.  "  Xow  you  can  see  why  I  made 
you  swear  to  do  as  I  wished  before  you  knew  what 
it  was,  for  you  have  a  good  heart,  and  as  you  know 
— ^yes,  you  know  that  I  love  you — you  would  stay 
here  for  my  sake,  you  are  so  good." 

"Oh,  my  God,"  he  exclaimed,  "to  hear  yoio 
speak  of  my  goodness !"  And  he  sank  at  her  feet, 
his  eyes  blinded  by  tears  and  his  voice  choked  by 
emotion,  while  such  a  sense  of  his  utter  unworthi- 
ness  came  over  him  as  he  had  never  before  experi- 
enced. 

She  laid  both  hands  upon  his  head.  "  And  you 
will  remember,  will  you  not,  when  you  are  far,  far 
away  in  that  beautiful  country  of  yours,  and  of 
which  you  have  told  me  so  much  (how  well  I  re- 
member every  word),  and  when  you  are  happy 
among  those  friends  whose  thoughts,  habits,  and 


MARRIED  LIFE.  261 

tastes  are  like  yours,  will  you  not  then  remember 
that  there  is  one  here  who  loves  you  well,  who 
every  day  prays  to  the  Good  Father  in  Heaven  to 
take  care  of  and  watch  over  you,  and  who  every 
hour  of  the  day  will  ask  the  Holy  Virgin  to  inter- 
cede for  you  ?  I  believe,  I  know  that  you  will  not 
wholly  forget  me,  and  in  that  thought  I  shall  be 
happy."  She  was  outwardly  composed  and  tran- 
quil. Not  so  he.  He  buried  his  face  in  her  lap, 
while  the  tears  streamed  from  his  eyes  and  his 
whole  frame  shook  with  the  intensity  of  his  emo- 
tion. His  extremely  sensitive  and  sympathetic  nat- 
ure caused  him  to  suffer  acutely  as  he  considered 
that  he  was  blasting  the  Hfe  of  this  angelic  girl, 
who  had  first  given  him  his  life,  and  was  now  en- 
deavoring to  secure  his  happiness  at  the  cost  of 
her  own.  It  was  many  minutes  before  he  could 
sufficiently  control  himseK  to  speak  a  word.  The 
poet  has  well  said : 

"  Talk  not  of  grief  till  thou  hast  seen 
The  tears  of  warlike  men." 

And  the  tears  which  he  then  shed  were  caused  by  a 
grief  deeper  than  could  be  produced  by  any  misfor- 
tune happening  to  himself  alone. 

At  last,  raising  himself  up,  he  said,  "  I  ask  you 
now  to  release  me  from  the  oath  I  swore  to  you, 
and  to  let  me  remain  here  with  you  always."  Thi« 
time  she  whispered,  "  Never." 


262  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

He  jumped  to  his  feet,  paced  hurriedly  up  and 
down  the  room  for  about  three  minutes,  then, 
coming  up  close  to  her,  said,  "  You  ha\'e  stated  all 
I  am  to  do  to  fulfill  my  oath,  have  you  not  ?" 

'^  Yes,  all." 

"And  you  will  add  nothing  more?" 

"  Nothing  more." 

"  Tlien  here  I  will  take  another  solemn  oath :  I 
have  sworn  to  leave  the  country,  but  I  have  not 
sworn  when  I  M'ill  go,  so  I  now  solemnly  swear  that 
I  will  not  leave  you  nor  this  place  for  twenty  years ; 
so  now  to  fulfill  both  oaths  I  will  wait  here  twenty 
years  then  go  to  my  native  land."  She  turned 
deadly  pale  as  he  made  this  speech,  and  as  she  com- 
prehended it  she  answered : 

''  Oh,  I  am  no  match  for  you."  Then  she  begged 
him,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  to  do  as  she  wished, 
while  he,  similarly  affected,  tried  to  persuade  her  to 
drop  the  subject  and  let  him  remain. 

That  day  passed  and  the  morrow  came,  and  with 
it  the  young  wife  presented  herself  to  her  husband 
with  the  request  that  he  would  take  her  back  to  her 
father's  house  once  more,  as  she  was  far  from  well, 
lie  conducted  her  there  and  returned  to  his  duties, 
intending  to  "visit  her  every  evening  and  back  to  his 
duties  in  the  morning,  as  he  could  easily  do. 

Going  up  the  first  evening,  she  sent  out  word  to 
him  that  she  was  too  unwell  to  see  him ;  and  the 


MARRIED  LIFE.  263 

next  morning  was  the  same.  He  rode  back  to  his 
duties  wdthout  having  seen  her.  He  spent  an  anx- 
ious day  and  went  to  see  her  very  early  in  the  even- 
ing. The  same  story  was  sent  to  him,  and  on  his 
earnestly  requesting  her  to  allow  him  to  come 
to  her,  she  peremptorily  refused.  Each  succeed- 
ing day  for  a  week  was  the  same ;  he  had  not 
once  seen  his  wife.  He  consulted  with  her  family 
and  the  attending  physician,  and  they  all  told  him 
that  she  was  rapidly  failing ;  that  she  refused  the 
medicines  and  took  scarcely  any  food,  and  spent 
nearly  all  of  her  time  in  prayer. 

Disregarding  all  her  injunctions  that  he  should 
not  be  admitted  to  her  room,  the  husband  forced 
his  way  through  to  the  presence  of  his  wife,  and 
was  shocked  at  the  palid  brow  and  emaciated  form 
that  met  his  view ;  though  the  same  heavenly  smile 
replied  to  his  eager  greetings,  he  could  plainly  see 
that  at  the  present  rate  the  soul  was  not  long  to  be 
among  the  things  of  earth.  He  asked,  in  agonized 
tones,  why  she  was  thus  slowly  starving  herseK  to 
death.  "  Because,  my  husband,  I  love  you  better 
than  my  own  life ;  you  are  too  good,  too  noble  and 
unselfish  to  free  yourself  from  this  thralldom,  there- 
fore the  Holy  Yirgin,  to  whom  I  constantly  pray 
to  do  what  is  best  for  you,  will  take  me  to  herself 
that  you  may  return  to  your  friends  and  be  happy 
once  more." 


264  IN  SEARCH  OF  OOLB 

She  was  killing  herself  that  he  might  be  free ! 

He  was  greatly  frightened ;  it  seemed  to  him  that 
he  himself  was  murdering  this  his  wife.  "What 
can  I  do  to  save  you  ?"  he  moaned. 

''  But  one  thing,"  she  replied ;  "  promise  me  again 
tliis  time  without  any  mental  reservation,  that  you 
will  start  for  your  home  in  a  week,  and  then  the 
Blessed  Virgin  will  restore  me  to  carry  on  the  du- 
ties which  she  wishes  me  to  perform  here." 

"  But  my  oath,"  he  said. 

"  I  can  release  you  from  that  as  it  was  made  to 
me  and  for  me,"  she  replied. 

Seeing  she  was  determined  to  finish  this  act  of 
self-immolation  unless  he  yielded,  he  compromised 
the  matter  as  well  as  he  could  by  getting  the  time 
extended  to  one  month. 

It  was  therefore  agreed  that  in  one  month  he 
should  leave  his  wife  forever,  and  start  for  his  na- 
tive land. 

From  this  moment  she  slowly  but  surely  im- 
proved. 

The  feelings  of  Lockwell  at  this  period  were  dif- 
ficult to  describe. 

Combined  ^vith  the  natural  joy  of  the  prospect 
of  participating  once  more  in  the  refined  enjoy- 
ments and  pleasures,  both  for  body  and  mind,  only 
attainable  in  a  civilized  and  enlightened  commun- 
ity, was  the  deep  sorrow  he  felt  in  thus  leaving  one 


MAERIED  LIFE.  265 

whom  he  knew  was  worthy  of  the  happiest  fate,  in- 
stead of  this  sad  lot  which  was  to  be  hers  through 
life.  In  vain  he  implored,  and  begged  on  bended 
knee,  that  she  would  come  with  him  to  his  northern 
home.  In  this  he  was  most  sincere ;  he  earnestly 
wished  it.  He  knew  his  mind  would  trouble  him 
if  he  was  to  go  and  leave  her  behind.  Suffering 
had  rendered  her  appearance  more  ethereal,  and  the 
coarse  look  and  unrefined  manners  peculiar  to  the 
interior  inhabitants  of  South  America  had  almost 
entirely  disappeared. 

But  to  all  his  persuasions  she  would  only  rejDly, 
"  I  know  nothing  of  the  ways  of  the  world ;  tho 
laws  of  etiquette,  the  habits  of  society  are  all  very 
different  in  your  country  and  you  would  have  con- 
stantly to  blush  for  your  bride  among  your  fine 
friends.  !N"o,  I  will  not  go.  Oh !  may  the  Blessed 
Virgin  forgive  me  for  the  great  and  selfish  sin  I 
committed  when  I  married  you.  I  thought  only  of 
my  great  love  for  you,  and  never  once  that  you 
must,  of  course,  be  miserable  in  our  poor  land  with- 
out any  of  those  advantages  to  which  you  have  al- 
ways been  accustomed,  but  you  will  forgive  me, 
will  you  not  ?" 

Then  would  Lockwell  throw  himself  at  her  feet 
and  swear  that  in  all  his  fair  land  there  was  not  one 
so  like  the  holy  angels,  so  like  the  Madonna  herself 
as  she  was,  and  he  believed  it,  and  with  reason. 


266  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Then  would  slie  gently  rebuke  him  for  his  imj^iety, 
saying  no  mortal  should  ever  be  compared  to  the 
Holy  Mother  of  God. 

He  settled  up  his  affairs  at  the  sugar  estate,  and, 
as  his  services  there  had  been  very  valuable  in  reg- 
ulating some  machinery,  and  other  matters,  the 
owner  presented  him  with  a  handsome  bonus  in  ad- 
dition to  wliat  had  been  agreed  upon. 

The  last  three  weeks  of  his  stay  the  husband  ojid 
wife  were  constantly  together.  Their  future  cuurse 
was  marked  out  so  far  as  it  concerned  one  anotlier, 
and  accepted  by  both,  so  there  were  no  further 
arguments  ;  they  were  to  wi-ite  to  each  other  once  a 
year,  and  he  was  never  on  any  account  to  come 
back.  She  gave  herself  wholly  up  to  the  intense 
joy  of  his  presence ;  she  would  sit  for  hours  with 
her  hands  clasped  in  his  and  her  head  upon  his 
breast  breathing  silent  prayers  for  his  welfare.  Ilis 
mind  was  distracted  by  thoughts  as  to  what  would 
become  of  her  when  he  was  gone.  She  had  a  good 
home  and  he  had  no  fears  for  her  physical  conifort, 
but  he  did  fear  that  her  intense  grief  at  his  absence 
would  become  a  settled  melancholy  and  carry  her  to 
the  grave.  However,  there  was  no  help  for  it.  He 
had  done  all  he  could  to  change  her,  but  where 
duty  or  her  love  for  him  was  concerned  she  was 
firmness  itself. 

The  day  before  that  set  for  his  departure  arrived 


MARRIED  LIFE.  267 

all  his  preparations  were  made.  He  had  insisted 
on  taking  only  just  money  enough  to  carry  him 
cheaply  through  to  IS^ew  York,  wliile  she  wished 
him  not  only  to  take  all  the  money  he  had,  but  also 
desired  to  add  to  the  amount  from  her  own  private 
store,  but  this  he  would  not  listen  to,  and  she  finally 
yielded.  He  was  to  ride  on  horseback  (the  only 
means  of  travel  known)  first  for  about  eight  days 
to  Quito,  the  capital  of  Ecuador ;  there  he  was  to 
rest  for  one  day,  thence  proceed  the  same  way  and 
about  the  same  distance  to  the  seaport '  town  of 
Guayaquil;  thence  by  steamer  to  Panama,  cross 
the  Isthmus  to  Aspinwall,  and  then  by  steamer 
again  to  N^ew  York.  There  was  joy  in  the  thought, 
and  well  she  could  read  what  was  passing  in  his 
mind  as  she  stood  by  his  side  this  the  last  day  but 
one  he  would  ever  be  with  her,  watching  intensely 
every  muscle  of  his  face.  He  turned  his  eyes  to- 
ward her  from  his  absent  far-oif  gaze,  and  drawing 
her  head  to  his  bosom  asked  her  if  she  had  no  re- 
quest to  prefer  before  he  left  her.  "  Tell  me," 
said  she,  "  is  it  true  that  in  your  country  they  give 
divorces  to  people  who  are  once  married,  and  that 
they  are  then  separated  and  can  marry  agam  ?" 

"  Yes,  it  is  true  ;  why  ?"  said  he,  looking  at  her 
curiously. 

She  trembled  as  she  answerered  slowly,  "  And — 
will  you  get  a  divorce  and  marry  again  ?" 


268  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  Never,"  he  said  earnestly,  and  she,  regarding 
him  intently,  knew  that  he  spoke  from  the  bottom 
of  his  heart. 

"  Oh,  you  make  me  so  glad,"  said  she  with  a  deej) 
sigh  of  relief ;  "  I  never  would  have  asked  you  to 
promise  me,  because  if  your  ever  desired  to — to 
remarry,  a  promise  would  have  bound  you,  and 
been  in  the  way  of  your  haiDpiness.  I  know  now 
that  you  do  not  at  present  wish  to  marry  any  one 
else,  and  I  am  contented,  and  do  you  know  that  I 
shall  be  almost  happy,  even  without  you,  always 
praying  for  you  and  looking  forward  to  the  time 
when  we  shall  l)e  together  once  more  in  heaven,  but 
how  would  it  be  in  lieaven  if  you  had  anotherwife  ?" 

"  I^ever  mind  about  that,"  he  rejilied ;  "  for 
though  you  do  not  -snsh  to  bind  me  I  will  bind 
myself,  and  I  hereby  solemnly  pledge  you  my  word 
of  honor  that — "  "  Hush,"  she  said,  laying  her 
hand  upon  his  lips,  "  please  do  not ;  it  would  greatly 
trouble  me  afterward  to  think  that  you  are  bound 
in  any  way.  It  will  be  better  for  me  to  know 
that  whatever  may  happen  there  is  nothing  to 
interfere  Avith  your  happiness."  His  happiness, 
at  whatever  cost  to  herself,  was  her  only  thought. 

The  final  j^arting  came ;  she  told  him  she  wished 
to  give  him  a  letter  which  he  was  not  to  open 
and  read  till  he  reached  Guayaquil,  nor  then  till 
the  very  day  that  he  was  to  embark  upon  the 


MARRIED  LIFE.  269 

steamer.  "Would  lie  promise?  He,  thinldng  of 
how  hard  she  had  striven  to  induce  him  to  take 
more  money,  thought  this  was  a  ruse  of  hers  to  en- 
close some  bills  in  the  letter,  and  hesitated  before 
he  replied  that  if  she  would  fold  the  letter  in  his 
presence  and  give  him  the  envelope  to  examine 
first,  he  would  promise  as  requested.  Reading  his 
thoughts  with  her  usual  clearness,  she  smiled  and 
readily  assented  to  this  arrangement ;  getting  her 
letter,  which  was  already  written,  she  brought  it  to 
him,  unfolded  it  and  showed  him  that  it  contained 
nothing  but  a  few  hues  written  on  one  side.  Then 
he  examined  the  envelope  and  returned  it  to  her, 
when  she  replaced  the  letter,  sealed  all  up  and  gave 
it  to  him.  He  placed  it  carefully  away  to  be  read 
as  he  had  promised. 

The  parting  is  at  hand.  As  the  last  hand-shake 
was  given,  and  the  last  kiss  was  pressed  upon  her 
Hps,  not  a  tear  was  in  her  eye ;  not  a  tremor  was 
visible,  and  it  was  such  a  relief  to  him  to  know  that 
she  could  bear  up  so  well,  and  gave  him  great 
hopes  for  her  happiness  in  the  future.  Oh,  he  knew 
not  till  long  afterward  how  much  of  this  calmness 
was  assumed  on  his  account,  nor  tliat  when  she  had 
seen  the  last  waive  of  his  hat  as  he  disappeared  in 
the  distance  she  had  turned  deadly  pale,  then 
fallen  on  the  floor  in  a  deathly  swoon  from  which 
it  was  hours  before  the  family  could  rescue  her. 


270  i2V  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Proceeding  on  his  journey  Lockwell  reached  the 
old  city  of  Quito  on  the  eighth  day  without  in- 
cident of  note.  Eesting  here  for  only  one  day  to 
see  the  old  cathedrals  and  other  sights,  he  again 
mounted  his  horse  and  started  on  the  winding 
road,  which,  flanking  the  eternal  snow-clad  peaks  of 
Chimhorazo,  finally  descends  with  great  rapidity  to 
the  hot  lowlands  of  the  coast.  The  first  day  out 
from  Quito  a  great  misfortune  happened  to  him. 
His  faithful  horse,  in  passing  one  of  the  roughest 
places  on  the  road,  got  his  foot  entangled  between 
two  stones,  stumbled,  threw  his  rider,  and  broke  his 
own  leg.  Lockwell,  though  somewhat  bruised,  was 
not  otherwise  injured.  Here  he  was,  a  long  dis- 
tance from  any  place,  and  no  way  of  progressing 
except  on  foot. 

He  bound  up  his  horse's  leg  with  his  hand- 
kerchief as  well  as  he  was  able,  took  off  the  saddle 
and  bridle,  lea^^ng  them  in  the  road  for  the  first 
comer,  and  turned  the  poor  animal  loose  to  fare  the 
best  he  might,  took  his  changes  of  linen,  wrapped 
them  in  his  blanket,  strapped  the  bundle  on  his 
shoulders,  and  began  his  weary  tramp  toward  the 
sea-coast. 

Sleeping  at  night  on  one  side  of  the  road,  and 
stopping  at  the  huts  to  get  what  was  necessary  to 
eat,  he  pursued  his  tedious  way.  He  would  have 
bought  a  horse  again  but  he  had  only  allowed  him- 


MARBIED  LIFE.  271 

self  just  money  enougli  to  get  home,  and  if  lie 
bought  a  horse,  and  then  was  not  able  to  sell  him 
again  for  nearly  as  much  as  he  paid,  he  might  find 
himself  short  of  funds  before  reaching  JSTew  York, 
so  he  would  not  risk  it. 

He  usually  stopped  at  the  small  huts  on  the  road 
for  refreshments,  and  as  these  huts  were  built 
especially  as  hotels  for  the  accommodation  of 
travelers  we  will  describe  one.  The  sides  were  of 
bamboo  or  wild  cane  covered  with  mud,  and  the 
roof  thatched  with  grass ;  but  one  room,  no  floor, 
no  glass  windows,  no  chimney,  no  beds  save  cow- 
hides thrown  on  the  floor  at  night.  And  in  these 
mammoth  palace  hotels  a  man,  his  wife  and  family, 
be  it  large  or  small,  di'ank  and  slept,  and  received 
and  entertained  all  travelers,  and  this  is  a  fair 
description  of  a  large  majority  of  the  stopping 
places  for  travelers  between  Quito,  the  cajDital  of 
Ecuador,  a  city  claiming  eighty  thousand  inhabi- 
tants, and  its  seaport,  Guayaquil,  a  town  of  about 
twenty  tliousand.  The  inns  nearer  Guayaquil  on 
the  lowlands  or  "  tieiTa  caliente"  differed  from  the 
one  described  only  in  that  they  had  no  sides, 
nothing  but  a  roof  fastened  on  posts,  and  in  the 
extreme  lowlands,  or  those  subject  to  an  overflow 
of  water,  they  had  floors  of  bamboo  or  wild  cane 
raised  on  piles  driven  into  the  ground. 

Winding  his  way  along,  Lockwell  passed  in  plain 


272  IN  SEARCH  OF  00 LB. 

view  of  the  snow-capped  Cotopaxi,  shaped  so  much 
like  a  pyramid.  But  his  disappointment  was  great 
at  the  first  view  of  the  far-famed  Chimborazo.  It 
appeared  so  low  and  yet  the  line  of  its  perpetual 
snow  seemed  to  be  not  much  higher  than  where 
he  was  then  standing.  It  was  hard  to  realize  that 
the  apparently  low  planes  from  which  he  was  then 
gazing  were  themselves  over  twelve  thousand  feet 
high,  thus  dwarfing  the  mighty  bulk  of  that  huge 
mountain  down  to  the  apparent  size  of  one  only 
eight  or  ten  thousand  feet  high. 

He  passed  the  mountain  in  fair  weather,  escaping 
those  terrific  blasts  of  wind,  hail,  and  snow  which 
sometimes  sweep  this  portion  of  the  road.  But 
beyond  this  point,  and  just  l)cfore  reacliing  the 
long  steep  descent  toward  the  coast,  he  was  not  to 
be  80  fortunate. 

Crossing  the  ravines  and  passing  high  hills,  he 
stopped  one  afternoon,  about  three  o'clock,  at  a  hut 
such  as  we  have  described,  and  asked  for  refresli- 
ments.  The  only  occupants  at  the  time  were  a 
woman  and  three  little  children,  the  husband  and 
older  son  being  at  work  in  the  fields.  A  little  fire 
was  burning  on  the  ground  in  one  comer  directly 
under  a  hole  which  had  been  left  in  the  roof  for  the 
smoke  to  go  out.  On  this  fire  she  placed  a  large 
earthenware  pot,  the  only  cooking  utensil  in  the  hut, 
and  began  peeling  potatoes  preparatory  to  making 


MARRIED  LIFE.  273 

the  universal  stew  or  soup,  tlie  only  way  victuals  are 
served  up  in  that  portion  of  the  country.  Tliere 
being  but  a  small  s(j[uare  hole  on  one  side  to  admit 
the  light  besides  the  small  door  made  of  cowhide 
through  which  he  had  entered,  and  as  it  was  a  very 
cloudy  day,  Lockwell  did  not  at  first  distinguish  in 
the  obscurity  the  forms  of  the  three  very  small  chil- 
dren rolled  up  together  in  a  blanket  and  placed 
upon  the  ground  in  a  comer.  But  a  low  wail 
coming  from  that  direction  caused  the  woman  to 
lay  down  the  half-peeled  potato  on  which  she  was 
engaged,  and  going  to  the  corner  sHghtly  moved 
the  children  and  arranged  the  blankets,  then  re- 
sumed her  work  on  the  potatoes ;  this  was  repeated 
several  times  before  the  soup  was  prepared.  Lock- 
well  ate  heartily,  for  he  was  tired  and  hungry ; 
then  while  debating  in  liis  mind  if  he  had  not  better 
stop  here  for  the  night,  as  the  weather  was  very 
threatening,  he  asked  the  woman  if  the  children 
lying  there  were  not  sick.  "  Yes,"  said  slie,  "  they 
are  all  three  broken  out  with  the  small-pox." 

Lockwell  left. 

Continuing  his  walk  at  a  brisk  pace  he  expected 
to  arrive  about  dark  at  another  house  which  had 
been  described  to  him  as  standing  some  distance 
back  from  the  road  he  was  following,  but  which  he 
could  see  by  keeping  a  shar^D  look-out.  This 
house  it  was  important  he  should  reach  as  there 


274  m  SEARCn  OF  GOLD. 

was  every  indication  of  a  stormy,  rainy  ni«rlit,  and 
he  was  very  fearful  if  he  got  wet  through  in  these 
very  high,  cohl  places  it  would  hring  ou  a  recur- 
rence of  that  fever  with  which  he  had  so  neai'ly  lost 
his  life.  The  clouds  grew  thicker  and  thicker.  A 
drizzling  rain  hegan,  and  n( ►where  w;us  there  the 
slightest  sign  of  any  shelter.  Darkness  came  ui)on 
him  an  hour  earlier  than  usual  owing  to  the  foggy 
mist,  and  he  had  not  yet  reached  the  house  where 
he  intended  to  pass  the  niglit.  The  rain  came 
faster  and  faster  as  it  grew  darker  and  darker.  He 
was  drenched  through,  yet  he  coukl  only  plod 
along  through  the  mud  hoj)ing  that  he  might  catch 
a  glimpse  of  a  light  in  the  house  as  he  passed  it. 
Vain  hope.  He  kept  on  through  the  darkness  over 
a  road  as  bad  as  he  had  ever  been  on.  The  weather 
had  been  wet  and  the  road  was  cut  up  l)y  trains  of 
pack  animals  which  had  passed  along  it;  every 
other  step  he  would  go  do\vn  in  a  hole  made  by  a 
mule's  leg  and  which  was  now  filled  with  water. 
It  was  too  dark  to  pick  his  steps ;  he  only  kept  the 
road  with  the  utmost  care.  lie  was  passing  around 
the  steep  side  of  a  mountain.  The  path  was  cut 
out  artificially,  making  tlie  border  on  the  upper  side 
a  perpendicular  bank  of  earth  three  or  four  feet 
high,  while  from  the  edge  on  the  lower  side  the 
descent  was  steep  and  abrupt,  and  the  mud  in  the 
path  appeared  to  have  no  bottom.     He  went  in  this 


MARRIED  LIFE.  275 

way  through  the  heavy  rain  till  he  felt  certain  he 
had  passed  the  house ;  then  what  was  he  to  do  ? 
He  had  learned  that  there  was  not  another  house  or 
roof  of  any  kind  within  twenty  miles  on  the  road 
he  was  traveling ;  he  could  go  no  further  ;  he  must 
pass  the  night  right  here.  Feeling  along  the  per- 
pendicular bank  ^vith  his  hand,  he  came  to  a  place 
where  he  thought  it  projected  over  a  little  on  top, 
and  under  this  projection  he  laid  down,  but  the 
drippings  of  the  bank  were  constantly  falling  upon 
him.  What  did  it  matter  ?  He  was  already  wet 
through  and  through. 

He  passed  a  night  similar  to  those  passed  upon 
the  bald  mountain,  and  he  was  very  certain  the 
effects  would  be  the  same,  viz. :  sooner  or  later  a 
return  of  the  fever  which  had  prostrated  him  before. 

In  the  morning  he  pushed  ahead  as  fast  as  pos- 
sible over  that  dismal  road.  Twenty  miles  to  go 
before  he  could  get  anything  to  eat,  and  he  was 
already  hungry. 

He  was  blessed  with  a  good  appetite,  and  he  used 
to  say  that  whenever  he  could  not  get  anything 
else  he  could  always  get  hungry. 

A  few  miles  gained,  and  the  road  suddenly 
forked,  and  he  had  not  the  remotest  idea  which 
was  the  proper  one  to  take.  "WTiat  should  he  do  ? 
Why,  take  one  and  trust  to  luck ;  there  was  no 
other  way. 


276  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Yet  he  migbt  take  one  which  ran  fifty  miles 
without  coming  to  a  honse  ;  such  instances  were 
not  unknown  in  the  mountains.  Well,  no  use  in 
borrowing  trouble.  He  took  the  left  hand  side  and 
went  ahead. 

Before  he  had  gone  a  mile  he  thought  he  was 
wrong ;  it  would  have  been  just  the  same  if  he  had 
taken  the  other.  Two  miles  from  the  forks  he  met 
two  girls  who  had  been  driving  an  ox  with  a  load  of 
things  on  his  back  tliat  they  were  taking  to  market. 

But  the  ox  now  was  stuck  in  a  deep  mud-hole, 
and  tliey  were  removing  his  load  to  give  him  a 
chance  to  get  out.  As  soon  as  the  girls  saw  our 
hero  coming  all  forlorn  they  called  to  an  imaginary 
man  in  the  rear  to  liurry  up.  He  knew  that  this 
was  only  to  make  him  think  that  they  had  a  protec- 
tor near  by,  while  they  were  really  traveling  alone. 
Smiling  at  their  little  ruse,  he  politely  asked  them 
about  the  road.  lie  had  taken  the  Avrong  one,  and 
must  retrace  his  steps  to  the  forks!  Then  he 
begged  for  some  food,  showing  some  silver,  and  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  pay  well  for  it.  But  no, 
they  said  they  had  not  a  mouthful  of  any  thing. 
This  would  have  been  very  discouraging,  only  he 
knew  they  were  l^'ing,  and  were  afraid  to  show  what 
food  they  had  lest  he  would  take  the  whole  of  it 
and  make  off.  But  he  was  determined  to  have  a 
little  something  to  eat,  so  he  commenced  to  finesse 


MARRIED  LIFE.  211 

a  little  ;  in  other  words,  to  fib.  He  bid  them  good 
bye  with  a  dismal  countecance,  and  with  the  re-' 
mark  that  he  was  lost,  as  they  saw,  and  had  not  had 
a  monthful  to  eat  in  two  days,  and  would  doubtless 
sink  do^vn  and  perish  by  the  roadside  ere  he  could 
reach  the  nearest  house  on  his  way,  and  as  he  shook 
hands  with  each  he  raised  their  hands  to  his  lips. 

This  had  the  desired  effect ;  telling  him  to  wait  a 
moment  one  of  them  opened  a  large  bag  and  took 
out  a  big  double-handful  of  parched  corn  and  gave 
it  to  him.  He  tried  to  make  them  take  a  httle 
silver  for  it,  but  they  would  not. 

He  thanked  them  kindly  and  left  munching  his 
popped  corn,  and  this  he  did  not  doubt  was  the 
only  kind  of  provisions  they  had.  This  was  all  the 
food  he  had  that  day  till  he  reached  the  next  house 
late  in  the  evening. 

Early  the  next  morning  he  was  on  his  way  again, 
and  hoped  in  one  day  more  to  reach  the  river,  where 
he  could  take  the  little  steamer  down  to  Guaya- 
quil before  the  fever  which  he  could  now  feel  in 
his  system  should  have  completely  prostrated  him. 

He  just  succeeded  and  that  was  all.  The  day 
after  his  arrival  at  Guayaquil  he  took  to  his  bed  in 
the  room  which  he  had  secured  immediately  upon  his 
arrival,  and  which  he  was  only  to  leave  in  his  coffin. 

A  description  of  our  poor  frietid's  death  and 
burial  we  will  reserve  for  another  chapter. 


278  IN  SEAIICU  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

DEATH,    BURIAL,    AND    KESUERECTION. 

Just  as  before,  the  fever  quickly  reduced  him  to  a 
state  of  delirium ;  but  this  time  he  had  not  the  same 
kind  nurse  to  take  care  of  him,  and  i)y  her  gentle 
tact  and  soothing  ways  to  win  him  back  from 
death  unto  life.  He  grew  woi-sC  and  wt)rse  with- 
out once  rallying.  A  torj)or  succeeded  delirium, 
and  in  four  days  from  the  time  he  was  taken  down 
he  had  ceased  to  breathe. 

As  the  small-pox  at  that  time  was  raging  as  an 
epidemic  in  the  city,  and  scores  were  dying  daily 
from  that  disease  alone,  most  corpses  were  in- 
terred the  same  day  they  died,  and  by  the  author- 
ities of  the  city.  As  our  friend  had  died  unkown 
in  that  place,  and  only  strangers  were  in  the  house, 
it  was  not  strange  that  his  body  was  treated  the 
same  as  were  the  corpses  of  the  poor  victims  of  the 
epidemic.  Ali,  fortunate  it  was  that  his  poor  wife 
knew  nothing  of  all  this !  Fortunate  that  she  was 
ignorant  of  his  sickness,  as  she  would  have  flown 
to  his  sick-room,  though  she  would  not  have 
arrived  in  time.      Fortunate  that  she  could  not 


DEATH,  BURIAL,  AND  RESURRECTION.    279 

now  see  that  loved  form  as  it  was  roiiglilj  thrown 
into  the  pnblic  cart  among  a  dozen  small-pox 
corpses  and  dragged  to  an  open  space  just  out  of 
town,  where  shallow  pits  had  been  dug,  then  flung 
with  them  into  these  pits  and  covered  up. 

"  Where  ignorance  is  bliss,  'tis  folly  to  be  wise." 
Had  she  seen  these  things,  she  never  could  have 
survived  tlie  shock.  But  slie  only  thought  that  he 
was  swiftly  flaying  to  meet  his  friends,  and  took  a 
melancholy  j)leasure  in  thinking  how  soon  he  would 
be  hap23y.  Each  day  and  each  hour  she  was 
wondering  where  he  was,  how  far  he  had  got,  and 
whether  at  that  instant  he  was  thinking  of  her  or 
not.  Was  it  not  a  blessing  she  could  not  know 
that  at  that  very  moment,  while  tliese  thoughts  were 
2)assiug  through  her  mind,  he  was  l^'ing  all  un- 
conscious of  her  or  of  any  thing  in  the  cold  grave 
in  which  he  had  been  so  brutally  buried.  Tlirice 
happy  was  she,  even  in  lier  misery,  that  she  could  not 
see  on  the  very  night  succeeding  the  "  funeral"  the 
army  of  half-starved  curs  and  dogs  of  low  de- 
gree (whicli  abound  in  every  South  American  town) 
as  they  roved  in  droves  through  the  city  and 
suburbs,  in  search  of  offal  and  carrion,  and  came 
finally  to  this  new  graveyard. 

With  the  keen  sense  of  hungry  animals  they 
could  detect  the  scent  of  the  corpses,  and  knew 
they  were  not  far  below  the  surface.      One    hun- 


280  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

dred  starving  dogs  in  a  moment  were  digging  for 
human  food.  It  was  midnight,  and  they  were  not 
likely  to  be  disturbed.  The  corpses  buried  here 
were  mostly  those  of  the  poorer  classes. 

They  were  nearly  all  friendless,  like  our  hero ; 
there  was  not  much  likelihood  that  the  anticipated 
nocturnal  feast  of  these  canines  would  be  disturbed 
by  relations  or  friends  coming  to  w^eep  over  these 
graves.  No,  the  poor  have  seldom  time  to  indulge 
in  sentiment;  never  during  an  epidemic. 

The  tirst  body  is  reached ;  a  dozen  snarling  curs 
all  at  once  plunge  their  teeth  into  the  limbs  and 
body,  and  drag  it  out,  then  commence  their  fearful 
repast.  There  is  roon^  for  more  to  feast  upon  this 
person ;  every  inch  of  space  is  (juickly  taken ;  the 
tearing  of  human  flesh  and  the  crunching  of  human 
bones  goes  bi-avely  on.  Right  well  are  these  dogs 
rewarded  for  their  ''  struggle  for  hash." 

In  fact  there  had  been  but  little  trouble.  The 
ill-paid  laborers  who  dug  the  pit  had  not  calculated 
on  so  many  occupants,  so  when  all  were  in  there 
was  but  a  few  inches  left  for  the  covering  dirt. 

But  now  two  or  three  large  mastiffs  approach ; 
they  CNddently  belong  to  the  better  classes,  or  to 
the  foreign  merchants  of  the  place.  They  are 
evidently  out  on  a  spree,  and  hearing  this  canine 
"  revelry  by  night,"  drop  over  to  see  what  is  going 
on.     They  have  been  out  some  hours,  and  are  not 


DEATH,  BURIAL,  AND  RESURRECTION.    281 

indisposed  for  a  midnight  liincli  providing  tliej 
meet  with  anything  that  suits  their  more  fastidious 
tastes.  They  sniff  at  the  partly-eaten  bodies  lying 
around,  then  march  straight  to  the  pit,  regarding 
with  dignified  contempt  the  snarling,  yelpnig, 
growlhig  curs  which  carefully  make  room  for  them 
as  they  pass. 

The  next  body  in  order  to  be  dragged  out  is 
clothed  in  mud-bedaubed  pants  and  coat.  It  is 
that  of  our  hero  clad  in  the  same  suit  in  which  he 
had  traveled  over  the  horrid  roads.  The  three 
mastiffs  sniff  at  it  and  appear  satisfied,  for  they 
simultaneously  grab  hold  of  the  clothing* and  drag 
his  body  off.  At  a  convenient  distance  they  stop, 
and  commence  to  tear  off  his  clothing.  No  curs 
dare  venture  near  them.  The  pants  are  ripped  up 
by  their  sharp  teeth  and  claws,  thus  exposing  the 
calf  of  the  leg ;  a  good  place  to  begin,  and  tliey  do 
begin.  The  teeth  are  plunged  deep  into  that  leg, 
and  then — that  leg  is  suddenly  drawn  up  and  again 
extended  with  a  force  that  sends  the  mastiff 
liowHng  back,  while  the  other  two  draw  off  and 
reconnoitre.  They  take  in  the  situation  at  a  glance  ; 
to  feast  here  they  must  butcher  the  meat ;  this  is 
more  than  they  had  calculated  upon,  and  may  not 
be  worth  the  troul)le.  No,  for  there  is  plenty  more 
ready  killed  close  at  hand.     They  return  to  the  pit. 

Lockwell,  rudely   awakened  from  his   cataleptic 


282  IN  SEARCn  OF  GOLD. 

fit,  hopes  it  is  near  morning.  Mercy  !  how  his  leg 
smarts!  Tries  to  move  his  body  a  httle  and — ■ 
heavens !  he  is  lying  on  the  hare  ground,  yet  he 
remembers  distinctly  being  in  bed  all  day  yesterday 
sick  with  the  fever.  Somebody  must  have  come  in 
while  he  slept  and  removed  him  on  to  the  floor  and 
stolen  his  bed.  What  a  rough  floor !  How  cold  and 
stiff  he  is.  He  rolls  over  and  looks  up.  Goodness ! 
he  is  out  of  doors ;  the  stai*s  are  shining  above  him. 
It  must  have  been  all  a  dreani  about  liis  arriving 
in  Guayaquil,  and  he  is  now  still  on  that  dismal  road 
and  has  laid  down  for  the  night,  but  he  can't  re- 
member  an}i:hing  about  it ;  but  he  can  remember 
getting  into  Guayaquil.  Everything  is  fearfully 
confused.  Tries  to  rise.  Oh !  how  awf uDy  his  leg 
smarts ;  some  snake  must  have  crawled  on  to  him 
and  bitten  him  ;  if  so  he  will  die.  Yes,  he  is  feeling 
very  sick  and  faint ;  some  poisonous  reptile  has  un- 
doubtedly bitten  him  on  the  calf  of  the  leg  and  he 
will  soon  die.  Gets  to  liis  feet,  staggers,  and  falls 
in  a  swoon,  and  remains  in  that  condition  until 
daylight.  Some  of  the  nearest  neighbors  can  see 
from  their  door§  the  remains  of  the  canine  carnival, 
Investigate  a  little,  then  run  for  the  priest  and  the 
alcalde.  The  former  is  first  upon  the  ground.  The 
good  man  is  terribly  shocked,  and  a  faintness  comes 
over  him  as  he  looks  at  the  sickening  sight.  Sees 
our  hero  lying  there,  and  wonders  why  the  dogs 


DEATH,  BURIAL,  AND  RESURRECTION.    283 

have  not  touched  him.  Goes  up  to  examine  him,  and 
sees  the  wound  from  which  the  blood  is  trickling. 

As  soon  as  the  padre  saw  the  blood  issuing  from 
the  bite  in  Lockwell's  leg  made  by  the  mastiffs  he 
knew  that  the  blood  would  not  ran  that  way  from 
a  dead  man,  and  that  therefore  the  human  being 
1)0  fore  him  was  still  alive.  Calling  for  assistance 
the  padre  had  the  inanimate  form  taken  to  his  own 
house,  where  restoratives  were  applied  with  success, 
and  once  more  consciousness  returned.  O^^ening 
his  eyes  the  first  tiling  Lock  well  saw  was  the  j^er- 
son  of  the  padre,  who  was  not  yet  attired  in  the 
vestments  of  his  order,  and  he  said,  "  Excuse  me, 
sir,  but  may  I  ask  what  you  are  doing  in  my  room  ? 
Oh,  I  know.  I  have  been  very  sick,  and  you  are 
the  doctor.  But  I  feel  awful  sick  yet.  Oh,  but  I 
thought  a  snake  had  bitten  me  last  night.  Where 
am  I  ?"  he  asked  as  he  noticed  for  the  first  time 
that  he  was  in  a  strange  room. 

Much  to  his  astonishment  he  learned  all  the 
particulars  of  his  supposed  death  and  burial,  to- 
gether with  the  fearful  manner  of  his  resurrection. 
They  sent  around  to  the  house  where  he  had  sto])- 
ped  and  procured  the  remainder  of  his  clothing,  to- 
gether with  the  letter  from  his  wife,  which  was  still 
unopened;  but  unfortunately  all  his  money  was 
paid  out,  or  was  reported  to  have  been  paid  out,  for 
his  doctor's  and  nurse's  bills,  and  other  incidental 


284  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

expenses,  and  again  was  he  without  a  cent  in  tlie 
world,  and  could  think  of  no  possible  way  to  get 
home  when  he  should  be  sufficiently  recovered  to 
start,  which  he  hoped  would  be  in  a  few  days,  as 
kind  care  was  once  more  doing  wonders  for  him, 
and  he  was  rapidly  growing  stronger.  lie  told  his 
whole  story,  and  the  good  padre,  while  deeply 
sjTupathizing  with  him,  was  unable  to  suggest  any 
way  out  of  the  difficulty. 

At  last  he  was  able  to  walk  about  town,  and  the 
first  day  he  was  at  the  dock  was  the  day  on  which 
the  steamer  was  expected  up  the  coast,  and  was  to 
stop  there  on  her  way  to  Panama.  lie  was  very 
sad  thinking  that  this* was  the  very  steamer  he  had 
expected  to  take,  but  now,  alas,  he  had  no  money 
wlierewith  to  pay  his  passage,  and  must  ^vitness  it 
leave  ^v-ithout  him.  lie  returned  home  (he  was 
staying  with  the  padre),  and  during  tho  dinner  his 
host  asked  him  if  he  were  not  going  to  read  the 
letter  of  his  wife,  as  this  was  the  day  he  was  to  have 
embarked  with  the  steamer.  He  replied  that  he  had 
been  debating  the  matter  with  himself,  and  as  he  was 
not  sure  whether  according  to  his  promise  he  should 
oj)en  it,  he  had  not  done  so.  But  now  by  the  ad- 
vice of  his  host  he  opened  it.     The  letter  ran  thus : 

"  My  own  daelen'g  Husband  : — Know,  when 
you  are  reading  this,  whenever  or  wherever  that 


DEATH,  BURIAL,  AND  RE8UERECTI0N.    285 

may  he,  that  I  am  tbinking  of  and  praying  for 
you.  Adios,  my  heart's  love,  till  we  meet  in 
heaven.  Eosa. 

"  P.  S. — Fearing  you  may  need  more  money  than 
you  have,  I  have  sewn  \\^  bills  to  the  value  of  two 
hundred  pesos  in  the  lapel  of  your  coat.  I  hope 
they  may  do  you  some  good." 

Seizing  his  coat  he  ripped  it  open  and  found  the 
hills  as  described.  AVhat  a  relief  !  He  would  now 
take  that  steamer,  which  was  to  sail  on  this  same 
evening. 

It  certainly  seemed  to  him  as  though  his  wife 
was  endowed  with  the  prescience  of  divinity  to  thus 
i:)repare  him  in  the  only  way  possible  for  this  un- 
forseen  emergency. 

Settling  his  affairs  there,  and  forcing  a  handsome 
present  upon  the  good  priest,  he  took  his  passage  on 
the  steamer  for  Panama,  and  arrived  in  New  York 
without  incident  worthy  of  note. 

The  next  five  years  of  his  life  were  passed  in 
\asiting  and  working  gold  mines  in  many  different 
localities,  and  with  varying  success,  always  return- 
ing to  l^ew  York  for  a  visit  at  short  intervals. 

Dr.  Train,  the  soldier  who  saved  his  life  in  Con- 
script Camp,  was  now  a  very  successful  j^hysician, 
and  the  friendship  that  began  in  the  army  had  in- 
creased in  each  succeeding  year. 


28G  IN  SEARCH  OF  00 LB. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


LOSES     HIS     HEART. 


The  doctor  and  Lockwell  had  become  insci^a- 
rable  friends.  The  former  liad  opened  an  office  in 
the  city,  and  had  taken  permanent  apartments  for 
his  bachelor  quarters,  and  at  these  rooms  Lockwell 
spent  at  least  two  thirds  of  his  time,  ever  a  wel- 
come visitor. 

"  Doctor,"  said  Lockwell  one  morning,  "  this  is 
the  third  time  I  have  asked  you  a  plain,  straight- 
forward question,  and  elicited  no  reply.  Will  you 
lay  down  that  etenial  Herald  and  tell  me  what 
shall  I  do  to  be  saved  from  dying  of  ennui  V 

"  My  beloved  friend,  I  heard  your  lirst  question, 
and,  with  a  prescience  that  never  fails  me,  I  kept 
on  reading,  knowing  that  by  that  means  I  should 
the  sooner  Ije  able  to  answer  your  question.  Kever 
speak  slightingly  of  premonitions  hereafter,  for  I 
have  this  very  moment  come  across  an  answer  to 
your  very  question.  Lend  me  your  ears  while  I 
read  it  to  you  from  the  '  Personals  : ' " 

"  A  young  man,  twenty-two  years  of  age,  con- 
sidered by  his  friends  to  be  very  good-looking,  not 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  287 

bj  any  means  in  impecunious  circumstances,  would 
like  to  meet  with  a  young  lady  similarly  favored, 
witli  a  view  to  a  pleasant  acquaintanceship,  and,  if 
mutually  pleased,  to  ultimate  matrimony." 

"  Well,"  exclaimed  Lockwell,  as  he  looked  curi- 
ously at  the  reader,  "  I  fail  to  see  how  there  is  any 
money  in  that  for  me." 

"No  money,  I  suppose,  but,  properly  looked 
upon  in  the  way  of  fun,  I  assure  you  there  are 
'  millions  in  it '  if  you  will  answer  this  advertise- 
ment." 

"How,  pray?  Am  I  to  dress  up  as  a  woman 
and  meet  this  chap,  then  marry  him  off-hand  and 
get  his  property  settled  upon  me  before  I  am 
found  out?  I  am  afraid  there  would  be  hardly 
time  after  tlie  marriage  ceremony  to  do  all  this  be- 
fore the  mistake  would  be  discovered." 

"  Nonsense !  You  are  to  do  nothing  of  the  sort. 
I  tell  you  there  is  no  money  in  it,  but  heaps  of 
fun  if  you  answer  this  notice.  Simply  write  a 
note  as  a  young  lady  with  all  that  is  necessary  to 
make  home  happy,  etc.  Appoint  a  place  of  meet- 
ing in  one  of  the  public  parks;  tell  him  what 
Hower  he  is  to  wear  in  order  to  be  recognized ;  then 
you  go  to  a  convenient  seat,  and,  while  reading 
your  newspaper  all  unobservant  of  everything,  you 
will  see  him  come  about  half  an  hour  before  the 
appointed  time,  pace  anxiously  ujd   and   down  in 


288  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

front  of  you,  waiting  for  Lis  unknown  Dulcinea,  and 
when  the  hour  passes  and  she  don't  come,  jou  can 
watch  him  bite  his  nails,  and  hear  him  cuss  things 
generally,  and  women  in  particular." 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  much  fun,  fame,  nor  glory  in 
all  that,"  Lockwell  replied. 

"  Try  it  once,"  said  the  Doctor.  "  I  have,  and  I 
know  it  will  relieve  your  attack  of  ennui  for  a  time, 
at  least." 

"  Well,  I  will  follow  your  advice.  But,  remem- 
ber, if  the  fellow  sees  me  and  suspects  me  of  being 
the  author  of  the  sell,  he  will  break  every  bone  in 
my  body ;  then  you  will  have  to  set  them  all  again 
free  gratis  for  nothing,  and  make  no  charge  besides." 

"  Agreed ;  now  take  this  paper  and  answer  this 
'  fool  according  to  his  folly '  while  I  go  to  adminis- 
ter the  consolations  of  some  bread  pills  to  an  old 
lady  who  thinks  herself  sick,  and  therein  differs 
from  me  in  toior 

This  conversation,  trivial  and  foohsh  as  it  may 
seem,  was  the  simple  cause  that  produced  an  effect 
of  great  magnitude  in  the  life  of  Joseph  Lockwell. 

The  letter  was  written  and  forwarded  to  the  ad- 
dress given  in  the  "  Personal,"  then  no  more  was 
thought  of  it  till  the  second  day  after,  when  an 
answer  was  found  in  his  post-ofRce  box  addressed  to 
Miss  IS'ellie  Livingston,  the  name  and  address 
which  he  had  designated.     This  was  answered  by 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  289 

Lockwell,  and  several  letters  passed  between  tlie 
parties,  and  Lockwell  had  gotten  quite  tired  of  it 
already  when  an  appointment  was  made  between 
the  parties  whereby  Miss  N'ellie  Livingston  (alias 
Lockwell)  was  to  meet  the  advertiser  in  a  certain 
specified  locality  in  the  Union  Square  park  at  3.30 
P.M.  the  next  afternoon. 

With  one  of  Dickens's  novels  in  his  hand  our 
hero  sauntered  to  the  rendezvous  about  3  o'clock, 
half  an  hour  before  the  appointed  time,  but  he 
thought  he  could  read  as  well  there  as  anywhere, 
and  he  wanted  to  be  there  before  the  Adonis  who 
had  signed  himself  "  Gustavus  Adolphus  "  should 
ap23ear  upon  the  scene. 

It  was  a  pleasant  afternoon,  and  many  people 
of  both  sexes,  all  ages  and  every  condition  were 
scattered  about  the  park.  On  the  seat  directly 
opposite  where  he  was  reading  there  sat  "  a  lovely 
young  lady  whose  hair  was  silvered  o'er  with  the 
frosts  of  between  seventeen  summers."  She  was 
very  chic,  and  Lockwell  frequently  allowed  his  eyes 
to  wander  from  the  pages  of  Dickens  to  tlie  feat- 
ures of  her  face,  which  was  very  lovely,  but  had 
withal  a  mischievous  expression  that  greatly  in- 
creased its  value  in  Lockwell's  eyes,  and  he  could 
not  help  wishing  that  this  was  the  party  *he  was 
there  to  see,  instead  of  the  foppish  fool  he  ex- 
pected every  minute  to  walk  upon  the  scene. 


290  7JV  SE Altai  OF  GOLD. 

It  had  been  arranged  tliat  the  parties  slionld  carry 
a  red  rose  i)inned  ujion  tlie  left  breast,  and  carry 
a  white  one  in  the  right  liand  in  order  that  tliere 
might  be  no  possilnlity  of  mistake.  As  the  min- 
utes passes,  and  Dickens  jnst  then  was  not  intensely 
interesting,  Lockwell  kept  glancing  across  at  the 
lady,  and,  when  once  or  twice  their  eyes  met,  he 
thought  she  seemed  to  have  a  look  of  inrpatience  as 
though  she  too  were  expecting  somebody,  and  that 
he  was  considered  in  the  way.  "All!  ha!"  he 
mused,  "  so  there  is  some  happy  individual  com- 
ing right  here  to  this  s]>ot  to  meet  you,  and  I  am 
considered  de  troj> !  "Well,  have  a  little  patience, 
and  as  soon  as  possible  after  my  Adonis  puts  in  his 
appearance  I  will  walk  off  and  leave  you  the  entire 
field  to  yourself." 

The  half  hour  passed,  and  the  time  rif  the  ap- 
pointment was  arrived,  and  still  no  expected  Adonis 
put  in  his  appearance. 

Both  the  lady  and  the  gentleman  .appeai-ed  to 
grow  equally  impatient.  An  attentive  observer 
might  have  noticed  that  during  the  half  hour  that 
both  had  been  engaged  in  reading  neither  had 
turned  over  a  single  leaf,  and  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  subject-matter  of  their  respective 
works  was  very  abstruse,  and  required  a  great  deal 
of  thought  to  digest  it. 

The  neighboring  clock   struck  the  half  hour  at 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  291 

3.30,  and  Lockwell  began  to  think  it  was  a  case 
of  the  "biter  bitten,"  and  that  instead  of  selHng 
the  advertiser  he  himself  had  been  most  egregi- 
ously  sold.  At  this  thought  he  felt,  and  had  no 
doubt  he  looked,  extremely  sheepish.  lie  waited 
fifteen  minutes  more,  and  then  as  no  one  with  the 
red  and  white  roses  appeared  he  resolved  to  leave, 
fully  satisfied  that  he  had  been  sold.  As  the  origi- 
nal plan  of  his  was  to  let  the  Adonis  expect  his 
Dulcinea  some  little  time,  then  pin  on  his  red  rose, 
and  carry  the  other  in  his  hand,  all  in  plain  view 
of  the  other  party,  to  show  him  how  he  had  been 
sold,  for  this  purpose  he  had  brought  the  two  roses 
carefully  concealed  in  his  pocket. 

Like  a  flash  it  crossed  the  mind  of  Lockwell 
just  now  that  the  whole  thing,  advertisement  and 
all,  was  gotten  up  by  the  doctor  expressly  to  sell 
him.  Of  course  that  was  it.  Fool  that  he  was  not 
to  have  thought  of  it  before.  So  he  at  once  de- 
termined to  go  home,  and  he  would  study  up  some 
plan  to  get  even  with  the  doctor  if  he  had  to  sit 
up  all  night  for  a  dozen  nights  in  succession  to  do 
it!  Probably  the  doctor  was  somewhere  around 
looking  at  and  laughing  at  him  now.  If  he  only 
knew  some  way  to  scrape  acquaintance  with  that 
young  lady  then  it  would  not  be  so  bad  a  sell  after 
all.  With  these  thoughts  he  glanced  around  at  her. 
She  had  her  back  toward  him,  for  she,  like  himself, 


292  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

had  evidently  become  tired  of  waiting,  and  liad 
risen  to  leave.  Slie  turned  around  to  walk  awaj, 
and  our  liero  was  struck  dumbfounded  with  aston- 
ishment. Tliere  upon  lier  left  breast  was  pinned  a 
red  rose,  and  in  her  right  hand  she  carried  a  white 
one ! 

Our  hero  jumped  to  liis  feet  with  such  energy  as 
to  attract  her  attention,  and  she  looked  toward  him 
with  surprise.  Instantly  he  took  out  his  roses,  and 
while  she  was  looking  at  him  he  pinned  the  red  one 
on  his  left  breast  and  took  the  white  one  in  his 
riglit  hand.  She  watched  his  motions  at  first  with 
amazement,  then  she  blushed  as  red  as  the  rose  she 
carried.  What  did  it  all  mean?  was  the  question 
each  one  was  thinking  of.  Lockwell  walked  toward 
her,  and,  with  a  very  low  bow,  said  : 

"Pardon  me.  Are  you  not  Mr. — ^Miss  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  ? " 

"Sir,"  said  she,  "I  do  not  understand,"  and 
turned  away  in  a  very  dignified  manner.  Lockwell 
apologized  and  resumed  his  seat. 

The  lady  walked  slowly  away,  and  he  determined 
to  know  where  she  lived,  as  he  had  not  the  slightest 
doubt  that  she  was  in  some  way  connected  with 
the  advertisement  and  the  subsequent  letters ;  the 
roses  proved  that  to  him  conclusively.  And  now 
he  was  fully  determined  to  watcli  her  and  see  where 
she  went   to.     But  as  he  kept  an   eye   upon  her 


LOSES  HIS  EEABT.  293 

over  the  corner  of  tlie  book  wliicli  lie  once  more 
was  intently  reading,  lie  observed  that  she  con- 
stantly turned  her  head  just  the  least  bit  to  dis- 
tinguish whether  he  was  following  her  or  not,  and 
he  knew  that  it  would  be  useless  to  attempt  that 
now,  for  she  would  undoubtedly  lead  him  a  wild- 
goose  chase,  and  finally  enter  the  house  of  some 
relative  or  friend,  or  any  house  but  her  own  home, 
and  so  throw  him  entirely  off  the  scent.  But  he 
Was  not  to  be  baifled  so  easily.  Without  appear- 
ing to  do  so  he  noticed  which  street  she  took  as  she 
left  the  park,  then  at  his  swiftest  jiace  he  went  to 
the  next  parallel  street  and  passed  rapidly  along 
until  he  was  certain  he  was  a  long  way  ahead  of 
the  lady,  then  he  passed  into  the  street  where  she 
was  supposed  to  be,  and  gave  a  hurried  glance  back. 
There  she  was  just  in  sight,  and  coming  along  as 
fast  as  she  could  walk,  and  continually  looking  Ic- 
hind  her  to  see  if  she  were  pursued.  She  never 
once  thought  of  looking  ahead  to  see  if  the  per- 
son whom  she  feared  was  watching  her.  Lockwell 
walked  on,  keeping  about  the  same  distance  ahead 
of  her,  but  constantly  glancing  back  to  see  that  she 
did  not  take  any  side-street. 

In  this  way  they  passed  on  until  he  saw  her  hail 
a  car  on  one  of  the  avenues  over  which  he  had  just 
crossed  and  enter  it.  Hastily  retracing  his  stej)S 
he  took  the  next  car  that  came  along,  and  sat  on 


294  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

the  inside  next  to  the  front  window,  from  which 
position  he  conld  easily  watch  the  car  in  front  of 
liim,  and  see  when  she  might  alight. 

In  this  way  they  traveled  some  five  or  six  blocks 

up-town  until  they  came  to Street,  at  the  lower 

side  of  which  the  lady  alighted,  and  passed  quickly 
away  to  the  i-ight.  Lockwell  passed  the  street  a 
few  steps,  then  jumped  off  of  the  car,  returned  back 
to  the  upper  side  of  the  same  street,  along  which 
he  passed,  keeping  the  lady  just  in  sight  until  he 
saw  her  disappear  in  a  brown-stone  house.  Fixing 
the  house  well  in  his  memory  so  that  he  could  find 
it  again,  he  returned  ^\^thout  going  close  enough  to 
ascertain  the  number,'  which  he  was  afraid  to  do 
lest  she  might  observe  him  through  the  window. 

That  evening  he  went  to  the  house  and  took 
down  the  number  in  his  memorandum-book,  and 
was  very  glad  at  the  same  time  to  see  the  name  C. 
A.  Brown  upon  the  door,  and  on  the  basement 
window  was  a  sign  to  the  effect  that  that  was  Dr. 
Brown's  office. 

Here,  then,  would  be  a  certain  method  of  getting 
acquainted  with  Dr.  Brown ;  he  had  only  to  get 
sick  and  call  upon  him,  and  then,  after  making 
the  acquaintance  of  the  old  gentleman,  who  was 
probably  her  father,  who  could  tell  what  might  not 
follow  ? 

As  he  entered  the  doctor's  rooms  that  night  the 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  295 

latter  was  impatient  to  hear  the  recult  of  the  ren- 
dezvous. 

"  Well,  what  luck  ?  Did  the  fellow  keep  his  ap- 
pointment ?" 

"  See  here,  my  friend,"  said  Lockwell,  "  speak  in 
a  more  respectful  tone  of  that  charming  creature  or 
there  wiQ  be  a  trifling  unpleasantness  between  us 
compared  to  which  the  late  war  was  a  mere  baga- 
telle." 

"  What  charming  creature  are  you  talking  about  ? 
I  mean  the  fellow  whom  you  went  to  meet  in  the 


"  There  it  is  again ;  twice  that  lovely  girl  has 
been  called  a  fellow ;  the  third  time  will  precipi- 
tate the  impending  catastrophy  upon  your  head, 
and  I  \vill  change  my  family  physician.  Bat  I  will 
do  that  any  way ;  from  to-day  Dr.  Brown,  of  37 

Street,  is  your  successor  as  my  pill  provider. 

Know,  then,  that  even  as  I,  who,  according  to  all 
the  preliminaries  of  this  meeting,  ought  to  have 
been  a  she  am  a  he,  so  the  other,  who,  by  the  same 
rules,  should  have  been  a  he  is  a  she.  Undoubt- 
edly many  years  ago  some  Buttercup  'has  mixed 
us  children  up.' " 

Then  he  recounted  everything  in  detail  just  as 
it  happened,  and  concluded  by  giving  his  opinion 
that  this  young  lady  had  put  in  the  advertisement 
intending  to  have  just  the  same  kind  of  amusement 


296  m  SEARCH  OF  OOLD. 

from  it  tliat  Lockwell  had  anticijDated  when  he 
answered  it,  that  is,  the  diseoinliture  of  the  other 
correspondent,  whom  each  one  supposed,  of  course, 
to  be  of  his  or  her  real  sex.  In  this  surmise  Lock- 
well  was  entirely  correct.  The  young  lady,  who 
was  a  great  lover  of  fun  and  excitement,  had  con- 
cocted the  whole  plan  for  her  own  amusement, 
and  had  gone  to  the  meeting  simply  for  the  jDur- 
pose  of  satisfying  her  curiosity  as  to  how  her  cor- 
respondent would  look,  and  how  she  would  act  while 
waiting  in  vain  for  "  Gustavus  Adolphus,"  and 
when  no  one  appeared  as  expected,  she  Avaited  till 
the  whole  thing  liad  failed,  as  she  su^^posed,  then 
pinned  on  the  roses,^  with  no  idea  that  she  was 
thereby  betraying  herself. 

The  great  beauty  of  the  young  lady,  together 
with  her  refined  and  wimiing  manners,  had  not 
been  without  their  effect  upon  Lockwell,  and  he 
was  determined  to  see  more  of  her  if  he  could  do 
so.  Accordingly,  very  early  the  next  day  he  called 
at  the  ofiice  of  Dr.  Brown,  and  when  he  rang  the 
bell  he  had  not  yet  decided  whether  he  should  have 
a  headache,  a  toothache,  or  a  pain  in  the  stomach, 
but,  as  the  door  opened,  and  he  was  ushered  into 
the  presence  of  Dr.  Brown,  a  severe,  austere,  and 
elderly  gentleman  of  rather  imposing  appearance, 
and  one  who  looked  as  though  he  did  not  intend 
to  be  trilled  with,  a  decision  was  necessary,  and  the 


LOSES  ms  HEART.  297 

pain  in  the  stomach  carried  the  day.  He  described 
his  imaginary  symptoms  to  the  doctor,  and  re- 
quested to  be  prescribed  for.  The  latter  prepared 
a  large  mixture  in  a  goblet  and  said : 

"  You  will  drink  this  now,  then  go  to  your  room 
and  remain  there  quietly  for  the  remainder  of  the 
day.  It  will  make  you  feel  very  sick  for  a  while, 
but  you  must  not  mind  that,  for  to-morrow  you 
will  be  all  right." 

But  our  hero  did  not  like  this  arrangement,  so  he 
said : 

"  Won't  you  please  put  it  in  a  bottle  so  that  I  can 
take  it  with  me  lo  be  drank  in  my  room  ?  for  I  have 
several  other  places  to  go  to  first,  which  visits  I 
cannot  possibly  postpone." 

The  doctor  grumblingly  assented.  Lockwell 
pocketed  the  mixture ;  asked  the  charge — five  dol- 
lars— paid  his  bill,  and  was  about  to  try  and  draw 
the  physician  into  conversation,  with  the  hope  of 
ascertaining  something  about  his  family  affairs, 
when  the  door  of  the  office  opened,  another  jjatient 
was  announced,  and  there  was  nothing  for  him  to  do 
but  to  take  his  departure. 

"  Whew !"  our  friend  mused  as  he  left ;  "  this  is 
rather  expensive  business.  I  don't  think  I  got  my 
money's  worth  there,"  and  he  gazed  upon  the  bot- 
tle of  anti-stomachache  which  he  held  in  his  hand. 
"  Jingo !  this  is  too  valuable  to  throw  away.      I 


298  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

wonder  if  it  will  keep.  I  have  a  great  mind  to 
go  and  eat  about  two  watermelons  with  three  lob- 
ster salads  just  to  try  the  efficacy  of  this  pre])- 
aration." 

Two  blocks  further  on  he  saw  a  small  boy  cry- 
ing. 

"Little  boy,"  said  he,  "what  is  the  matter? 
Have  you  got  the  stomachache?  because,  if  you 
have,  I  have  got  a  sure  specific  here  that  just  cost 
me  five  dollars,  and  I  will  give  you  a  dose  free." 

"  Dry  up  and  git  out.  What  for  do  you  want  to 
nag  a  feller  what's  just  been  welted  by  his  ma'am  ?" 

The  medicine  could  do  no  good  here. 

The  great  expense  attending  his  first  \nsit,  to- 
gether with  the  unsatisfactory  results  thereof,  de- 
terred our  hero  from  repeating  his  attempt  for 
several  days,  but  as  he  could  not  devise  any  other 
means  of  acquiring  any  information  in  regard  to 
the  lady  of  this  little  romance,  he  decided  to  renew 
the  effort  in  the  same  way  once  more ;  then  if  the 
expense  was  still  as  great  and  the  results  as  small 
he  would  relinquish  all  thoughts  of  the  matter,  and 
turn  his  attention  to  something  else. 

Just  a  week  from  the  day  of  his  former  attemi)t 

he  was  passing  up  Street   bound   for   more 

medical  advice.  This  time  it  was  to  be  the  tooth- 
ache in  place  of  the  former  ailment,  as  he  thought 
that  would  be  less  expensive.    "  But  then,"  thought 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  299 

he,  "  what  shall  I  do  if  that  pig-headed,  obstinate  old 
fool  insists  upon  pulling  out  one  of  mj  sound  teeth, 
for  I  have  not  a  bad  one  in  my  head !"  But  he 
knew  this  was  something  that  could  not  be  done 
without  his  consent,  so  he  went  on. 

As  he  was  about  to  turn  up  the  steps  of  the  house 
the  door  opened  and  out  walked  the  very  lady  he 
was  taking  so  much  pains  to  see.  The  door  had 
closed  behind  her  before  she  recognized  our  hero, 
or  she  would  undoubtedly  have  beaten  a  precij^itate 
retreat;  as  it  was  she  could  not  re-enter  without 
ringing  the  bell.  She  turned  very  red  once  more 
as  she  recognized  in  Lock  well  her  vis-a-vis  of 
the  park,  and  seemed  confused  as  to  whether  she 
had  better  advance  without  noticing  him,  or  ring 
for  some  one  to  let  her  repass  into  the  house. 
Fearing  she  would  do  this  latter,  Lockwell  was  ren- 
dered desperate  by  the  thought  that  he  must  either 
give  up  all  idea  of  ever  speaking  to  her,  or  do  so 
now.  He  jumped  up  the  stej^s  to  her  Side,  took  off 
his  hat,  and  in  his  most  respectful  manner  begged 
to  be  allowed  to  speak  to  her  one  moment. 

"  Why,  sir,  what  can  you  possibly  wish  to  speak- 
to  me  about  ?  And  now  I  believe  I  recognize  you 
as  the  same  gentleman  who  spoke  to  me  the  other 
day  in  the  park.  I  beg  you  will  not  intrude  your- 
self in  my  presence  again.  Either  take  your  de- 
parture now  or  I  shall  ring  to  re-enter  the  house." 


300  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  Very  well.  If  yon  wish  it  I  will  not  offer  to 
speak  to  you  again,  bnt  yon  mnst  allow  me  to  pass 
inside,  as  I  wish  to  consnlt  yonr  father  profession- 
ally, and,  also,  to  request  his  assistance  in  discover- 
ing the  author  of  a  few  letters  I  hold  which  are 
signed  Gustavus  Adolphus.  Jle  may  hioio  the 
handwriting^'' 

She  turned  quite  pale  as  she  answered  hastily : 
"  Oh,  sir,  give  nie  hack  those  letters,  I  beg  of 
you.  If  you  are  a  gentleman  I  know  you  will  not 
take  advantage  of  the  position  which  you  have  so 
very  unfairly  and  meanly  drawn  me  into,"  and  she 
looked  at  him  indignantly  for  a  moment,  then  the 
thonght  of  that  stern  parent  inside,  to  whom  he  had 
just  tlireatened  to  show  these  very  letters,  caused 
her  to  break  down  entirely  and  she  began  to  cry  as 
she  begged  him  again  to  hand  her  those  letters. 
Now  the  doctor,  who  was  the  most  intimate  friend 
of  our  hero,  used  frequently  to  say  that  he  believed 
any  prett}^  girl  with  a  tear  in  her  eye  could  make 
him  go  and  stand  upon  his  head  in  the  middle  of 
the  street ;  therefore  when  this  beautiful  girl  began 
to  cry  he  "  wilted,"  to  use  his  own  expression,  and 
if  he  had  had  th^  letters  with  him  he  would  have 
given  them  up  at  once,  but  as  he  had  not  he  told 
her  that  if  she  would  meet  him  at  the  same  place  as 
before  in  the  park,  at  three  o'clock,  he  would  then 
have  the  letters  with  him.     She  assented  and  they 


LOSES  mS  HEART.  301 

separated,  lie  going  direct  to  the  doctor's  rooms  to 
wait  with  what  patience  he  could  master  until  it 
was  time  to  go  again  to  the  same  place  where  his 
eyes  had  first  been  captivated. 

At  the  risk  of  being  called  ungallant  we  will 
only  extract  the  briefest  or  most  condensed  descrip- 
tion of  this  lady  which  his  diary  contains,  and 
which  is  therein  spread  out  over  many  more  pages 
than  we  think  the  subject  demands. 

Miss  Fannie  Thornton  was  born  into  the  world 
under  ausjDices  that  gave  promise  of  an  unusually 
happy  life.  An  only  child  of  wealthy  parents  who 
moved  in  the  most  select  circles  of  society,  she  was 
brought  up  with  the  most  tender  care,  and  her  ex- 
ceedingly buoyant  spirits  were  given  full  scope, 
with  no  more  restraint  than  was  considered  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  her  future  welfare  by  the  most 
solicitous  love  of  her  parents. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  while  she  stood  near  the 
head  of  her  class  in  most  of  her  studies,  she  was 
suddenly  expelled  from  the  high  school  which  she 
was  attending  and  sent  home  in  disgrace  be- 
cause she  had  written  a  long  love-letter,  purj^orting 
to  have  come  from  one  of  the  ol(^st  male  students, 
and  addressed  to  the  female  teacher.  As  the  hand- 
writing had  been  closely  imitated,  the  letter  was  for 
a  long  time  considered  genuine  and  led  to  very  dis- 
agreeable consequences.     Finally,  when  the  whole 


302  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

forgery  and  fraud  was  discovered,  our  lieroine  was 
disgracefully  sent  back  to  her  parents.  Before  she 
was  sent  away  to  another  school  her  father  died, 
and,  as  so  often  happens,  when  the  affairs  of  the  de- 
ceased were  settled  up  almost  notliing  remained 
for  that  widow  and  daughter  who  all  their  lives 
had  been  accustomed  to  every  luxury. 

Two  years  of  constant  striving  against  absolute 
poverty  had  placed  the  widow  in  a  very  proper  con- 
dition to  receive  the  addresses  of  the  wealthy  and 
highly  respected  Dr.  Brown.  But  it  was  love  for  her 
daughter,  and  in  consideration  for  her  happiness 
alone,  that  induced  the  mother  to  marry  again. 
Tier  friends  all  adx-ised  her  not  to  hesitate  in  the 
matter,  for  Dr.  Brown  was,  beyond  doubt,  a  very 
respectable  man,  of  irreproachable  character,  and  of 
high  standing  both  in  his  profession  and  in  society, 
and  deacon  of  the  church  two  doors  off. 

Two  years  of  constant  striving  to  sul)mit  to  and 
please  her  stepfather  had  now  placed  the  daughter 
in  a  proper  mood  to  give  the  attempt  up  in  disgust. 

The  friends  of  the  mother  said  she  was  a  spoiled, 
Belf-^villed  child  to  be  discontented  at  the  whole- 
some rules  whicliftthe  good  deacon  saw  fit  to  en- 
force in  his  household.  No  cards  were  ever  admit- 
ted within  the  precincts  of  that  Christian  home,  and 
no  member  of  the  household  was  ever  allowed  to 
play  them  elsewhere.     Theaters  were  never  patron- 


\ 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  303 

ized,  but  cliiirclies  and  prayer  meetings  were  rather 
overdone.  As  the  most  delicious  and  delicate  mor- 
sels will  finally  nauseate  if  served  ad  mfinituin  at 
the  rate  of  twenty-one  times  a  week,  so  the  religious 
precepts  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Drawl  had  long  since  pro- 
duced the  same  effect  upon  the  intellectual  appetite 
of  our  heroine.  She  was  exceedingly  fond  of  wliist, 
and  at  the  frequent  little  whist  parties  held  at  Mr. 
Thornton's  hospitable  mansion  she  had  become 
very  expert  at  the  game.  Now  it  was  very  hard  to 
visit  at  her  former  friends'  houses  and  refuse  to 
take  part  in  the  game.  On  the  other  hand,  her 
stepfather  had  provided  her  mother  and  herself 
with  a  good  home.  He  never  refused  them  any- 
thing that  he  could  allow  tliem  in  conformity  with 
his  strict  religious  principles.  Their  home  was  lux- 
urious, and  money  was  given  to  both  without  stint. 
But  this  did  not  satisfy  the  cravings  of  her  light, 
happy,  mischievous,  and  loving  nature  for  congen- 
ial society.  She  craved  the  pleasures  of  the  whist 
table,  and  one  evening,  after  her  mother  had  been 
married  about  a  year,  and  while  she  was  at  a  small 
gathering  at  the  house  of  one  of  her  friends,  the 
temptation  was  too  strong  for  her  and  she  played  a 
few  games.  Dreading  the  scene  which  would  en- 
sue if  her  stepfather  should  know  of  it  she  took  the 
most  natural  course  in  the  world — she  told  an  awful 
naughty  story :  she  said  she  had  not  been  playing 


304  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

wliist  when  she  liad.  Although  this  was  prohahly 
the  first  direct  falsehood  she  had  ever  uttered,  it 
was  not  the  last  by  any  means.  It  did  not  make 
her  feel  half  so  bad  as  she  thought  it  would ;  it  did 
not  keep  her  awake  fifteen  minutes  that  night. 
After  that  she  played  more  whist  and  fibbed  about 
it ;  she  went  to  the  theater  and  lied  about  it. 

She  thought  she  had  found  an  easy  way  out  of  all 
her  troubles:  she  could  have  as  good  a  time  as  she 
wished  by  simply  l}^ng  about  it.  But  as  it  is  the 
pitcher  that  goes  once  too  often  to  the  well  which 
breaks  the  cameFs  back,  so  our  young  lady,  embold- 
ened by  some  six  or  seven  months  of  successful  de- 
ceit, carried  the  thing  too  far,  and  everything  was 
exposed ;  a  thorough  investigation  following  re- 
vealed months  of  constant  sin  covered  up  by  as  con- 
stant lying.  Deacon  Bro^vn  consulted  with  the 
Reverend  Drawl.  The  latter  advised  severe  pun- 
ishment ;  mercy  or  leniency  toward  the  culprit  now 
would  imperil  her  immortal  soul. 

Amid  the  tears  and  beseechings  of  the  motlier 
the  decree  went  forth :  she  was  to  make  no  more 
visits  anywhere,  nor  enter  any  friend's  house  until 
she  had  received  permission  from  her  stepfather, 
and  all  letters  were  to  be  submitted  to  him  for  pe- 
rusal which  came  to  the  house  ;  she  must  be  in  the 
house  at  all  hours  except  from  two  to  four  p.m., 
when  she  could  walk  in  the  parks  for  exercise.     If 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  305 

tliis  was  hard,  she  must  remember  the  fearful  sins 
of  which  she  had  been  guilty,  and  that  it  was  for 
her  own  eternal  welfare  that  she  must  be  called 
upon  to  submit  to  it. 

But  these  thoughts  did  not  tend  to  relieve  the 
monotony  of  her  dreary  semi-imprisonment,  and  she 
grew  very  restless.  She  wanted  to  write  to  her 
lady  friends,  but  fearing  that  they  might  answer 
sometliing  back  which  she  would  not  wish  to  sub- 
mit to  the  perusal  of  the  worthy  deacon,  she  hit 
upon  a  manner  of  corresponding  through  the  "  per- 
sonals" of  a  daily  paper.  Then  she  got  a  friend  to 
receive  her  letters  for  her  and  smuggle  them  into 
her  room.  She  amused  herself  by  bringing  about 
all  kinds  of  scenes  in  the  park  by  means  of  her  per- 
sonals, and  of  which  she  was  a  laughing  spectator. 
Her  last  attempt  of  the  kind  happened  about  one 
month  after  her  stepfather  had  issued  liis  stern  de- 
cree. Lockwell  answered  it  with  the  result  already 
known  to  the  reader,  and  this  brings  us  up  to  the 
day  and  the  hour  of  the  meeting  for  the  second 
time  in  the  park. 

The  lady  was  naturally  very  much  distressed  that 
this  man  should  have  found  out  her  residence ;  she 
was  sure  when  she  left  the  park  tlie  first  time  that 
no  one  had  followed  her ;  how  then  had  he  gotten 
lier  address?  She  could  not  imagine.  She  must 
have  those  letters  back  at  any  cost ;  but  maybe  he 


306  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

would  ask  more  money  for  them  than  she  would  be 
able  to  raise,  and  then  he  would  show  the  letters  to 
her  stepfather,  who  would  at  once  recognize  the 
handwriting,  and  then  heaven  defend  her;  for 
that  rigid  old  disciplinarian  would  stop  at  nothing 
that  he  might  consider  necessary  to  overcome  the 
perversity  of  this  girl's  nature.  And  then  the 
holder  of  the  letters  did  not  look  exactly  like  a 
poor  man — that  is  like  one  who  would  wish  to 
extort  money  unjustly  ;  he  was  dressed  and  acted 
and  appeared  like  a  gentleman.  Then  if  he  did 
not  demand  money  he  might  use  his  power  over 
her  to  make  other  propositions  to  her  to  which  she 
could  not  accede.     Oh,  what  should  she  do  ? 

She  sat  do^vn  and  had  a  good  cry ;  then  called 
Deacon  Brown  an  old  reprobate  several  times,  both 
of  which  performances  seemed  to  do  her  a  world  of 
good  ;  then  she  started  for  the  meeting  in  the  park. 

Lockwell  was  already  in  the  same  seat  he  had 
formerly  occupied  when  she  arrived.  She  walked 
slowly  up  to  him,  as  he  appeared  to  be  so  busily 
engaged  in  reading  as  not  to  notice  her. 

"  If  you  i^lease,"  said  she,  "  will  you  now  hand 
me  those  letters  ?" 

"  Oh  !"  said  he,  looking  up  suddenly  in  surprise. 
"  Miss  Adolphus,  I  was  so  interested  in  Dickens's 
Chuzzle  Martinwit  that  I  did  not  see  you 
coming ;"  he  had  been  watching  her  ever  since  she 


LOSES  HIS  EEAUT.  307 

came  in  view  from  the  side-street,  and  it  was  a 
copy  of  Byron  that  he  held  in  his  hands,  though  he 
did  not  know  that.  "  Oh,  yes,  yon  have  come  for 
those  letters.  AVell,  sit  down  here  and  I  will  state 
my  terms." 

She  trembled,  but  replied : 

"  No,  I  prefer  to  stand.  Please  say  what  you 
have  got  to  say  as  quickly  as  possible  and  let  me 
go." 

"Well,  then,  in  the  first  place  let  me  tell  you 
that  I  know  these  letters  are  valuable  to  you.  You 
have  betrayed  that  from  the  start,  and  I  shall  make 
my  terms  accordingly.  Ah,  now  I  see  by  your 
eyes  that  you  have  been  crying  this  afternoon ;  this 
shows  me  that  my  letters  are  even  more  valuable 
than  I  had  anticipated,  and  I  will  raise  my  price  still 
more.  If  you  had  not  been  so  young  and  entirely 
unsophisticated  as  I  fear  you  are  you  would  have  pre- 
tended utter  indifference  and  so  have  gotten  your 
letters  back  at  a  much  lower  price.  Besides,  do 
you  know  that  I  have  been  at  some  expense  in 
this  matter?  That  old  curmudgeon — I  beg  your 
pardon,  I  mean  your  respected  father — charged  me 
five  dollars  for  some  medicine  to  cure  my — my — 
my — a  pain  in  the  toe,  and  the  pain  was  all  im- 
aginary, gotten  up  for  the  occasion.  Now,  suppose 
I  charge  in  proportion  to  their  value  for  these  let- 
ters as  that  old  chap — I  beg  your  pardon,  I  mean 


308  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

as  your  father  cliarged  me  for  that  dose  of  anti — I 
mean  that  liniment  for  mj  toe.  Why,  it  would 
take  half  of  Jay  Gould's  fortune  to  buy  them." 

Then  seeing  she  was  suffering  the  tortures  of  sus- 
pense he  went  on  in  a  very  different  and  serious 
manner : 

"  Young  lady,  when  I  answered  your  advertise- 
ment I  did  so  seeking  only  for  a  little  harmless 
amusement ;  I  expected  a  man  to  meet  me  just  as 
you  expected  a  lady  to  meet  you.  When  I  followed 
you  to  your  house  that  day — " 

"  IIow  did  you  follow  me  ?  I  kept  looking  back 
and  was  sure  you  were  not  behind." 

He  explained  it  aH  to  her  and  continued  : 

"  It  was  from  pure  love  of  adventure  that  made 
me  enter  into  it,  and  a  great  curiosity  to  know  who 
you  were  that  made  me  follow  you  home  and  visit 
the  doctor  afterward.  I  am  deeply  sorry,  and  offer 
you  my  apologies  for  the  few  hours'  unhappiness 
which  I  have  occasioned  you.  I  am  also  sorry  that 
you  for  one  moment  should  have  thought  me  ca- 
pable of  extorting  any  conditions  from  you.  I  have 
little  to  pride  myself  on,  but  it  is  the  one  boast  of 
my  life  that  I  can  do  no  mean  or  dishonorable 
action ;  bnt  I  l)lush  for  my  sex  to  say  that  if  the 
letters  had  fallen  in  other  hands  you  might  not 
have  fared  as  well.  Some  would  have  used  them  to 
extort  money  from  you ;  others  would  have  used 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  309 

them  for  a  still  more  dishonorable  purpose ;  I  give 
them  to  you  now  without  condition  or  promise  of 
any  kind.  But  if  you  are  willing  I  should  like 
very  much  to  hear  all  about  this  affair ;  but  I  make 
no  condition,  only  this  request,  and  I  furthermore 
promise  you  on  my  honor  as  a  gentleman  that  I 
will  not  again  go  to  your  house  without  your  per- 
mission, so  you  are  perfectly  safe.  Here  are  the 
letters ;  take  them  and  see  that  they  are  all  there." 
He  handed  her  the  package,  which  she  eagerly 
grasped,  then  replied  that  they  were  all  there.  He 
lit  a  match,  and  holding  it  toward  her  advised  her 
to  burn  the  bundle.  She  did  so,  holding  it  in  her 
hand  till  nearly  all  were  consumed ;  then,  droj^ping 
it,  she  watched  the  remainder  as  they  slowly  turned 
to  ashes.  All  danger  from  those  letters  was  for- 
ever avoided. 

He  asked  again,  ""Will  you  not  now  tell  me 
something  about  this  affair,  Miss  Brown?" 

The  reply  which  came  in  a  minute  rather  sur- 
prised him. 

"  No,  sir,  I  won't,  and  my  name  is  not  Brown, 
and  I  think — I  think  you  have  been  just  as  mean  as 
you  can  be,"  and  with  a  cool  bow  she  walked  off 
without  ever  once  turning  her  head. 

Lockwell  gazed  after  her  in  astonishment,  then 
muttered  : 

"  No,  sir,  I  won't,   and  my  name  ain't  Brown. 


810  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

AVell,  wliatever  your  name  may  be  you  are  a  little 
ingrate,  and  I  hope  that  old  skinflint  of  a  dad  of 
yours  will  give  you  a  good  spanking  when  you  get 
home." 

Lockwell  was  vexed,  which  is  scarcely  to  be 
woiulered  at  under  the  circumstances.  He  had 
liked  tlie  girl  very  much  and  desired  to  make  her 
acquaintance,  and  he  thought  liis  own  conduct  was 
deserving  of  a  little  better  return  tlian  to  be  called 
just  as  mean  as  it  could  be.  Now  he  was  pledged 
and  could  not  go  near  the  house  again. 

In  talking  the  matter  over  with  the  doctor  that 
evening  the  latter  noticed  that  he  exhil)ited  more 
displeasure  and  irnta^ion  than  he  had  ever  seen  in 
him  before,  and  it  was  the  same  thing  the  next  day 
until  the  arrival  of  the  postman  in  the  afternoon  ; 
this  brought  him  a  letter  which  quite  restored  his 
good  humor. 

The  letter  was  from  the  lady  of  the  previous  day, 
who  now  wrote  most  earnestly  begging  his  pardon 
for  her  rudeness,  and  saying  her  feelings  were  so 
wrought  \\])  that  she  had  either  to  cry  or  get  angry, 
and  she  chose  the  latter ;  now  she  begged  that  he 
would  forgive  her  and  believe  that  she  fully  appre- 
ciated his  honorable  and  generous  conduct  about  the 
letters,  and  she  would  now  cheefully  give  him  the 
information  he  had  expressed  a  desire  for,  and  then 
went  on  to  tell  all  that  the  reader  already  knows, 


LOSES  HIS  HEART.  3H 

and  wound  up  by  repeating  her  thanks  for  his  kind 
and  gentlemanly  behavior  all  through  the  affair, 
then  signed  herself  his  much-obliged  friend,  Fannie 
Thornton. 

The  first  exclamation  that  met  the  doctor  on  his 
return  to  his  rooms  that  evening  was  : 

"  Well,  that  bald-headed  old  bluebeard  keeps  her 
chained  uj)  like  a  tiger." 

"  What  are  you  .talking  about  now?" 

"  Eead  that,"  and  he  shoved  over  to  him  the  let- 
ter which  he  had  received  from  her.  The  doctor 
read  it  carefully,  then  laid  it  down  with  the  re- 
mark : 

"Do  you  know,  my  friend,  I  think,  though  you 
do  not  yet  know  it  yourself,  that  you  have  quite 
lost  your  heart  to  this  fair  damsel  V^ 

"  JS'onsense,  doctor ;  don't  make  a  wretched  fool  of 
yourself." 

The  irritability  of  the  day  previous  had  re- 
turned. 


312  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

■SVILL    HE    DAKE? 

The  next  day  Lockwell  \nsitcd  the  park  long  be- 
fore two  o'clock,  and  waited  there  with  great  impa- 
tience until  long  after  four  ;  then,  as  he  was  aware 
from  her  full  account  of  the  circumstances  of  her 
life  that  she  could  not  be  out  after  that  time,  he 
gave  her  up  for  that  day,  at  all  events,  and  went 
home,  calUng  down  anything  but  blessings  upon  the 
heads  of  all  stepfathers  in  general,  and  all  of  them 
who  called  themselves  Dr.  Brown  in  particular. 
He  did  not  know  the  fact  that  she  had  come  as 
far  as  the  corner  of  the  street,  looked  cautiously 
around,  saw  him  sitting  in  the  seat  he  had  occu- 
pied on  their  previous  meetings,  then  walked 
away. 

Returning  in  fifteen  minutes  by  another  street 
she  saw  liim  still  in  the  same  place,  and  during 
the  next  two  hours  she  had  viewed  him  from 
nearly  every  point  of  the  compass.  Then  she 
walked  slowly  home,  muttering  to  herself  in  a 
vexed  manner,  "  The  fool !  he  had  me  in  his  power, 
and  if  he  wanted  to  meet  me  here  why  did  he  not 


WILL  RE  BABE?  313 

make  it  a  condition  of  tlie  surrender  of  the  letters 
that  I  should  come  here  to  meet  him  every  day ; 
liowever  reluctant  I  might  have  been  to  do  so  I 
would  have"  been  compelled  to  have  yielded  in 
order  to  get  back  those  letters ;  then  what  nice  times 
we  might  have  had  !  I  know  he  is  good,  and  smart, 
and  kind,  and  intelligent,  notwithstanding  he  is 
such  a  '  goose  ! '" 

Lockwell  displayed  so  much  ill-temper  that  it 
quite  confirmed  the  doctor  in  his  surmise  that  the 
former  was  about  to  lose  his  lieart,  and,  as  he  Avas  a 
sincere  friend  to  him,  and  had  been  ever  since  he 
saved  his  Hfe  in  the  l^arracks,  he  advised  him  to  be- 
come better  acquainted  with  this  girl,  and  if  he 
liked  her,  why,  marry  her  and  settle  down.  He 
was  only  called  a  fool  for  his  kind  advice,  and  he 
dropped  the  subject. 

Thinking  matters  over,  Lockwell  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  lady  would  not  come  as  long  as 
he  was  in  the  park,  so  his  true  policy  was  to  wait 
before  entering  the  park  until  he  could  see  her 
there. 

So  the  following  day  he  was  coming  up  a  side- 
street  a  few  minutes  after  2  p.m.,  anxious  to  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  situation.  Circumstances  seemed 
to  favor  him,  for  directly  in  front  walked  a  lady 
whom  he  just  overtook  as  they  reached  the  comer, 
^nd  as  he  was  behind  her  he  could  get  a  good  view 


314  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

over  her  slioiilder  witlioiit  clanger  of  being  observed 
bj  Miss  Thornton  were  she  in  the  park.  He  had 
decided,  when  she  arrived,  to  come  up  behind  her 
before  she  had  a  chance  to  flee,  as  he  began  very 
much  to  fear  she  would  do  if  she  saw  him.  As  the 
lady  in  front  of  him  reached  the  corner  she  stopped 
so  suddenly  that  Lockwell  ran  against  her.  He 
bowed  and  ai)ologized  just  as  she  turned,  and  each 
recognized  the  other  as  the  one  they  were  looking 
for. 

Lockwell  extended  his  hand,  wliich  the  other 
took  after  a  moment's  hesitation.     Then  he  said  : 

"  So  you  were  looking  to  see  if  I  were  in  the 
park?" 

"  Why  in  the  world  should  I  be  looking  for  you, 
I  would  like  to  know  ?" 

"  I  regret  to  say  it  was  because  you  wished  to 
leave  if  I  were  there,  as  you  did  yesterday." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  ?"  in  surprise. 

"  Come  over  to  our  old  seats  and  I  will  explain 
all  to  you." 

Curiosity  and  interest  determined  her  to  sit  down 
and  listen  to  him  for  just  fifteen  mintues — no  more. 

The  fifteen  minutes  extended  to  the  whole  two 
hours,  and  then  was  brought  to  a  close  with  a  cor- 
dial handshaking  and  a  promise  from  both  sides  to 
meet  there  on  the  next  day. 

Thus  day  by  day  went  by,  and  the  young  lady, 


WILL  RE  DARE?  315 

feeling  more  and  more  irksome  tlie  severe  restraint 
under  wliicli  slie  was  constantly  kept,  came  to  look 
forward  to  tliese  two  hours  of  liappy  converse  with 
Lockwell  as  the  only  bright  spots  in  her  whole  ex- 
istence, and  if  it  stormed,  and  they  could  not  meet, 
they  had  arranged  so  that  each  should  spend  the 
time  in  writing  to  the  other.  A  sure  way  was  easily 
found  whereby  the  letters  would  botli  reach  their 
destination.  Lockwell  had  at  first  persuaded  him- 
self that  it  was  an  act  of  great  kindness  on  Ins  part 
to  thus  assist  the  poor  lonely  girl  to  pass  the  time 
more  pleasantly,  and  he  could  not  but  acknowledge 
that  he  never  had  a  pleasanter  duty  to  perform. 
He  determined  that  at  the  very  first  sign  of  either 
party  falling  in  love  he  would  withdraw  from  the 
affair  altogether,  and  give  some  good  and  plausible 
reason  to  the  young  lady  therefor. 

When  the  acquaintance  began  it  was  easy  to  per- 
suade himself  that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  him  and  to 
her,  and  therefore  no  harm  in  it. 

As  the  acquaintance  increased  it  became  easy  to 
persuade  himself  that  the  limit  of  safety  was  not 
yet  quite  reached.  And  when  the  fact  became  pat- 
ent to  both  that  each  loved  the  other  with  deep  and 
devoted  love  it  was  easy  to  persuade  himself  that  the 
harm  was  already  done,  and  now  it  was  too  late  to 
do  anything.  Let  things  take  their  course ;  he  was 
miserable.     He  knew  he  loved  and  was  beloved,  yet 


316  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

the  tliouglit  instead  of  being  a  comfort  was  a  tor- 
ture to  liim. 

Should  he  get  a  divorce  from  his  South  Ameri- 
can wife,  as  he  miglit  easily  do,  then  niarrj  this 
one  ?  The  very  thought  was  sacrilege  to  that  pure 
and  holy  being  who  was  his  wife  now  and  for  all 
eternity. 

Ilis  sense  of  honor  prompted  liim  to  go  straight 
to  this  girl  and  tell  her  everytliing  of  the  past,  and 
ask  her  forgiveness.  Yes,  this  he  would  do.  Again 
he  had  decided  to  obey  the  mandates  of  his  honor 
and  reveal  his  whole  hfe  to  her,  though  it  must 
separate  them  forever.  But  not  to-day.  No,  one 
more  meeting  of  joy  to  both,  then,  perhaps,  to- 
morrow, or  next  day  at  furtliest,  all  would  be  told. 
The  next  day  came,  and  still  it  was  to-morrow;  and 
the  next,  and  the  next,  and  yet  it  was  to-morrow. 

This  man,  whose  honor  had  passed  unscathed 
through  fiery  trials :  first,  when  death  or  life  and  lib- 
erty seemed  the  alternatives,  then  again  when  he 
felt  that  his  honor  had  compelled  him  to  marry  and 
remain  in  a  country  he  disliked,  and  among  a  peo- 
ple he  despised,  and  had  never  flinched,  now  before 
this  piece  of  feminine  flesh  and  bones  weakened 
right  down  in  every  way.  He  shut  his  ears  to  the 
dictates  of  conscience,  and  would  not  listen  to  the 
promptings  of  honor.  And  all  because  he  was  in 
love.      He  would  make  desperate  efforts  to  force 


WILL  HE  DARE?  317 

his  resolution  up  to  the  sticking  point,  then  firmly 
determine  to  reveal  all  to  her  and  take  the  conse- 
quences be  they  what  they  might.  But  as  soon  as 
that  beautiful  figure  would  advance  toward  him  he 
would  feel  all  his  wonted  courage  slowly  oozing 
away,  and  when  she  sat  down  and  turned  that 
l^eautiful,  confiding  face  toward  him,  with  flashes 
of  passionate  love  from  those  brilliant  eyes,  was  it 
in  the  power  of  mortal  man  to  say  to  her,  "  You 
must  leave  me  now  and  forever  ?"  Not  for  a  man 
constituted  like  our  friend.  His  wife  could  have 
done  so — had  indeed  already  done  so — but  for  him 
the  thing  was  simply  impossible. 

That  night  he  paced  his  room  without  intermis- 
sion for  hours.  For  the  first  time  in  weeks  he 
had  missed  calHng  upon  the  doctor  for  two  days  in 
succession.  He  was  in  deep  thought.  He  had  re- 
solved to  bring  reason  and  philosophy  to  bear  upon 
every  side  of  his  position.  He  had  thought  over 
every  possible  plan  of  action  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  all  but  one  seemed  fraught  with  misery 
to  all  concerned.  Would  he  dare  to  adopt  that 
one  ?  He  added  up  or  subtracted  the  happiness  or 
misery  it  would  produce  upon  each  individual  con- 
cerned, and  carefully  scrutinized  the  result.  Witli 
Xhd  calm,  penetrating  light  of  reason  brought  to 
bear  things  bore  a  very  different  aspect.  The 
proper  question  to  be  solved  was :  What  course  for 


318  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

him  to  pursue  would  j^roduce  tlic  most  happiness 
or  cause  the  least  misery?  The  answer  to  this 
question  was  what  he  must  discover  this  night. 
Clearl  V,  to  reveal  the  story  of  his  life  and  blast  Miss 
Thornton's  young  life,  and  make  himself  miserable 
without  doing  good  to  any  one,  was  not  the  proper 
answer.  To  keej)  on  as  they  were  now  doing  was 
not  the  answer,  because  it  was  impracticable.  She 
would  certainly  expect  a  declaration  in  a  few  days, 
and,  not  receiving  it,  would  first  wonder,  then 
doubt  his  love,  then  leave  and  despise  him,  while 
still  loving  him.  Tliere  remained  then  but  one 
course  to  pursue,  and  this  programme,  as  far  as  he 
could  see,  would  not  increase  the  misery  of  any 
one,  while  it  would  render  this  young  lady  haj)py 
lie  really  believed,  and  he  knew  it  would  make  him- 
self perfectly  happy. 

This  plan  was  to  marry  Miss  Fannie  Thornton, 
and  keep  his  past  life,  so  far  as  his  jDrevious  marri- 
age was  concerned,  a  secret  forever,  and  his  present 
mariage  a  secret  from  liis  first  wife  also  forever. 

As  he  viewed  the  matter  in  every  possible  way 
he  saw  there  was  but  little  danger  of  discovery. 
The  South  American  inland  town  where  his  wife 
resided  had  no  communication  whatever  with  the 
United  States.  The  yearly  letter  of  hers  was,  most 
likely,  the  only  one  that  ever  left  there  for  tliis 
country,  and  that  had  first  to  be  sent  to  a  friend  at 


WILL  HE  DARE?  319 

a  seaport  town  in  order  to  be  forwarded  to  its  des- 
tination, and  his  answers  were  all  directed  to  this 
same  mntual  friend.  And  he  conld  see  no  possi- 
l)le  chance  for  any  information  concerning  him  to 
get  to  her  bnt  such  as  he  might  choose  to  send 
lier.  In  receiving  her  letters  laj  the  only  possible 
danger,  and  was  there  any  danger  in  that  if  proper 
and  constant  caution  was  used  to  have  the  letters 
sent  to  some  address  away  from  his  home,  and  as 
soon  as  read  they  would  be  instantly  destroyed  ? 
There  certainly  was  none.  His  reason  taught  him 
that  it  was  in  novels  and  romances,  and  generally  in 
them  alone,  where  such  letters  were  found  by  the 
poor  second  wife,  completely  innocent  of  all  crime, 
yet  who  had  to  receive  a  worse  punishment  in  the 
cold  pity  and  compassion  of  her  neighbors  than  was 
dealt  out  to  the  male  culprit  by  the  law. 

Under  these  circumstances  he  could  not  prevent 
liimself  from  thinking  that  if  he  should  marry 
this  girl  the  only  sin,  if  any,  in  the  action  would 
be  in  allowing  any  chance  for  discovery ;  that,  in- 
deed, would  bring  disgrace  and  misery.  But  if 
never  found  out,  and  it  need  never  be,  would  it 
not  greatly  add  to  the  happiness  of  all  parties  con- 
cerned, or  at  least  to  that  of  these  two  here  pres- 
ent ?  and  it  would  in  no  possible  way  effect  the  ab- 
sent wife  if  she  were  kept  in  ignorance  of  the 
event. 


320  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

It  may  be  asked  wliy  lie  objected  so  strongly  to 
getting  a  divorce  from  his  wife  before  marrying 
again.  Such  Wiis  his  adoration  and  regard  for  that 
wife  that  he  would  most  certainly  have  taken  his 
own  life  before  he  woidd  have  committed  the 
smallest  act  that  would  have  contributed  to  her 
unhappiness.  A  divorce  would  have  to  l)e  public 
and  would  perhaps  eventually  reach  her  ears,  and 
he  knew  would  then  bring  intense  sorrow  to  her 
when  she  knew  of  it.  If  he  could  have  procured 
the  legal  separation  from  his  first  wife,  and  been 
absolutely  sure  she  would  never  have  heard  of  it, 
be  would  undoubtedly  have  done  so.  But  that  was 
impossible,  so  he  came,  as  already  explained,  to  the 
only  feasible  plan  which  should  be  the  best  for  all 
parties,  to  marry  Miss  Fannie  Thornton. 

In  coming  to  this  conclusion  he  had  not  given 
overdue  consideration  to  himself,  or  his  own  feel- 
ings, but  had  always  endeavored  to  look  upon  him- 
self and  his  own  interests  as  of  a  third  person.  lie 
was  not  at  all  selfish,  yet  he  knew  it  was  right  that 
his  own  hapi^iness  should  be  considered  to  some  ex- 
tent, and  that  it  required  that  he  should  follow  this 
plan.  He  also  thought  the  same  course  was  req- 
uisite to  complete  the  happiness  of  Miss  Thorn- 
ton, and  he  honestly  and  sincerely  believed  that  he 
could  make  her  happy  as  long  as  they  lived. 
These  meditations  kept  him   deep  into  the  night 


WILL  HE  DARE?  321 

pacing  the  floor  of  his  apartments,  and  when  at  last 
he  threw  himself  upon  his  bed  for  a  few  hours' 
rest,  it  seemed  to  him  the  only  question  then 
remaining  was,  would  he  dare  do  it  ? 

About  this  time  the  good  deacon  thought  that 
perhaps  he  could  now,  with  a  clear  conscience, 
allow  his  stepdaughter  her  liberty,  as  she  had  been 
suflficiently  punished.  Extracting  a  promise  from 
her  to  play  no  more  cards,  and  not  to  go  to  any 
theater,  he  told  her  that  she  could  now  resume  her 
former  freedom  of  action.  She  readily  gave  the 
required  promises,  and  would  as  readily  have 
broken  them  five  minutes  afterward  if  she  could 
have  done  so  safely,  so  changed  had  she  become  in 
this  respect  since  she  was  compelled  to  leave  the 
home  of  her  childhood,  with  the  free  and  un- 
trammeled  life  she  there  led,  ;id  where  there  was  no 
soil  to  produce  deceit  and  lies,  and  come  to  this  other 
house  where  the  whole  course  of  government  was 
such  as  to  generate  every  species  of  deception  and 
falsehood. 

But  she  was  glad  of  her  liberty,  and  now  Lock- 
well  was  invited  to  the  house  and  introduced  to  her 
mother,  and  became  a  constant  visitor  at  the  man 
sion. 

The  most  subtle  subterfuges  were  planned  by 
their  united  intellects  to  meet  at  whist  parties  and 
not  have  the  knowledge  thereof  come  to  the  good 


322  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

deacon ;  to  start  for  prayer  meeting  and  bring  up  at 
a  theater ;  to  go  out  to  visit  the  parish  poor  and 
bring  up  at  a  concert,  and  so -on  to  an  infinity  of 
stratagems  emjiloyed  to  throw  the  old  gentleman 
on  a  false  scent.  At  one  time  Lockwell  worked 
hard  for  two  whole  days  to  write  and  then  learn 
l)y  heart  a  really  beautiful  prayer,  which  he  de- 
hvered  at  one  of  the  prayer  meetings  in  the  good 
deacon's  church.  He  got  stuck  in  the  middle  of  it, 
however,  and  came  vei:y  near  l)reaking  do^vn 
altogether,  ])ut  luckily  recovered  after  a  few  mo- 
ments' hesitation,  and  the  suspension  was  attributed 
by  the  brethren  to  his  deep  emotion,  so  all  went  off 
well  and  the  good  deajcon  was  charmed  with  him. 
After  that,  for  some  time,  he  was  welcomed  to  the 
house  by  all,  but  he  felt  some  inconvenience  from 
the  fact  that  the  deacon  supposed,  of  course,  he  was 
going  to  attend  the  prayer  meetings  regulary.  But 
this  would  have  cost  him  too  much  time  and 
trouble,  especially  as  he  would  have  been  exjjected 
to  take  part  each  time  as  he  had  done  before,  and 
that  would  have  taken  two  days'  hard  work  to  j)re- 
pare  for  each  one  of  the  meetings,  and  this  he  did 
not  think  would  pay. 

Happy  was  the  life  they  now  led,  and  Lockwell 
wished  to  prolong  it  indefinitely,  but  he  knew  the 
time  must  soon  come  when  he  would  be  expected 
by  both  the  girl  and  her  mother  to  propose  for  her 


.    WILL  HE  DARE?  323 

hand  in  marriage.  He  had  a  natural  reluctance 
to  commit  that  act,  which,  however  justifiable  it 
might  appear  to  him,  he  knew  would  render  him 
amenable  to  the  laws,  and,  if  discovered,  would  send 
him  to  State  prison  in  disgrace  for  years,  and  he 
would  postpone  the  proposal  for  as  long  a  time  as 
he  felt  he  could.  His  visits  at  the  house  were 
daily,  and  his  meetings  with  his  intended  bride 
were  frequently  semi-daily. 

One  evening  they  had  left  the  house  with  the 
expressed  purpose  of  hearing  a  lecture  by  a  cele- 
brated divine,  and  as  usual  had  gone  to  a  theater 
where  was  then  being  played  a  popular  comic  opera, 
intending  as  they  came  out  to  go  to  the  nearest  ice 
cream  saloon  for  refreshments.  But  as  they  de- 
scended the  steps  of  the  theater  laughing  and  talk- 
ing they  almost  ran  right  into  the  arms  of  her 
father,  who  was  standing  there  waiting  for  another 
and  a  very  different  party — a  gentleman  friend  who 
had  sent  him  a  note  that  he  wished  to  see  him  and 
asked  him  to  come  to  the  theater  and  to  a  certain 
box,  where  he  would  find  him.  The  stern  old 
Christian  would  not  go  inside  the  building,  but  had 
come  expecting  to  meet  the  friend  as  he  came  out, 
and  instead  had  met  our  frends.  The  good 
deacon's  face  clouded  in  awful  anger  as  he  realized 
the  situation.  The  young  lady  turned  pale,  and 
Lockwell  had  to  support  her  or  she  would  have 


824  m  SEARCH  OF  OOLD. 

faflen.  He  was  the  coolest  of  the  three,  jet  he  felt 
very  much  worried  and  terribly  anxious  on  her 
account  when  he  thought  of  the  severity  of  the 
punishment  that  would  surely  follow  this  the 
second  great  fall  from  grace.  The  stepfather 
would  reason  that  this  was  because  he  had  been  so 
lenient  toward  her  on  the  former  occasion,  and  had 
not  made  her  punishment  half  severe  enough,  or 
she  would  have  kept  M'ithin  the  bounds  of  pro- 
priety. It  was  true  he  had  no  legal  right  to 
enforce  any  punishment  upon  her,  but  neither,  on 
the  other  hand,  had  she  any  claim  upon  him  for 
any  share  or  part  in  that  beautiful  and  luxurious 
home  in  which  he  had"  placed  both  her  and  her 
mother.  If  she  i)ersi8tently  refused  to  obey  his 
orders  he  both  could  and  would  tell  her  to  leave 
and  seek  a  home  elsewhere ;  therefore  she  never 
disobeyed  him  unless  she  thought  she  could  do  so 
without  his  finding  it  out. 

A  moment  of  surprise  having  passed  the  two 
gentlemen  bowed  coldly  to  each  other;  then  the 
stepfather  advanced  and  said  : 

"  Pardon  me,  sir,  but  my  carriage  is  at  the  door 
and  I  desire  to  take  my  daughter  home  with  me." 

"  Excuse  me,  but  the  lady  is  -^vith  me  at  my  own 
urgent  invitation,  and  I  shall  take  her  home  even 
as  I  brought  her  here." 

But  the  lady  at  this  point  hurriedly  wliispered  to 


WILL  HE  BARE?  325 

her  lover.  "  Do  not,  do  not,  I  beseecli  you,  in- 
cense liim  any  more  but  let  me  go  witli  him,  and  do 
you  find  some  means  to  communicate  with  me  if 
possible  in  the  next  few  days ;  this  is  the  only  way. 
If  you  oppose  him  any  further,  I  know  that  will 
make  it  much  harder  for  me."  Then  Lockwell 
turned  to  the  deacon,  whose  brow  was  as  black  as 
midnight,  and  said : 

"  By  the  express  wish  and  command  of  this  lady 
I  leave  her  in  your  care." 

"  And,  sir,"  said  the  deacon  as  he  took  her  arm, 
"  after  what  has  occurred  I  hope  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  me  to  express  my  wish  that  you  will 
not  again  honor  my  house  with  you  presence." 

Lockwell  bowed.  He  dared  not  trust  himseK  to 
sjjeak,  for  he  knew  he  was  getting  very  angry. 

He  watched  their  carriage  as  they  drove  away 
and  muttered,  "  Wretched  old  heathen — Christian, 
I  mean,  I  would  only  like  to  hammer  you  for  about 
seventeen  minutes  just  to  pound  some  sense  into 
you." 

Then  he  went  to  the  doctor's  rooms  and  told  the 
whole  story  to  his  friend,  and  ended  by  saying  that 
the  next  opportunity  he  got  to  speak  to  the  lady  he 
should  ask  her  to  marry  him  and  so  take  her  out  of 
the  care  of  this  stern  old  puritan. 

The  doctor  heartily  congratulated  him  upon  his 
determination,  and  assured  him  that  now  having  suffi- 


32G  I/V  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

cient  income  to  support  a  wife  lie  ought  to  marry, 
and  from  what  lie  could  learn  he  had  no  doubt  this 
was  the  very  lady  who  would  ensure  his  happiness. 

Then  they  discussed  the  best  methods  of  getting 
to  see  her,  and  it  was  decided  that  Lockwell  should 
wait  on  the  street  in  sight  of  her  house  till  he  saw 
tlie  stepfather  leave,  then  he  was  to  go  to  the  door, 
and,  if  refused  admittance,  try  and  bribe  the  ser- 
vants to  give  him  an  interview.  If  unsuccessful  in 
tliat  he  was  to  have  a  letter  written,  and  try  to  in- 
duce the  servant  with  a  liberal  use  of  money  to  at 
least  deliver  the  letter  and  promise  to  hand  him  an 
answer  the  same  way  next  day.  He  had  not  long 
to  wait  in  the  distance,  On  the  following  day,  before 
he  witnessed  the  departure  of  the  deacon  on  his 
round  of  visits  among  his  patients.  Hastening  to 
ring  the  doorbell,  it  was  opened  to  him  by  a  new 
servant  whom  he  had  never  seen  before.  He  in- 
cpiired  for  Miss  Thornton. 

"  She  is  not  at  home." 

"  See  here,  my  friend,  I  happen  to  know  better 
than  that,  and  look  here  also" — showing  a  double 
eagle — "  here  are  twenty  dollars  for  you  if  you  will 
tell  Miss  Thornton  that  I  am  here  and  give  us 
twenty  minutes  together  in  the  parlor." 

The  man  looked  at  the  money  and  hesitated. 

"  I  will  be  frank  with  you,  sir.  I  know  all  about 
this  matter,  and  know  that  if  you  knew  as  much  as 


WILL  HE  BABE?  327 

I  do  you  would  not  wish  to  meet  her  in  this  house. 
You  cannot  do  so  without  its  being  known  by  some 
of  the  other  servants,  and  then  he  will  quickly  know 
of  it,  and  then  it  will  work  greatly  to  her  injury.  I 
would  like  to  make  that  twenty  dollars,  but  under 
the  circumstances  it  would  be  unfair  not  to  tell 
you  these  facts." 

"  Then,"  said  Lockwell,  "  where  can  I  meet  her  ? 
Does  she  never  walk  out  ?" 

"Yes,  she  goes  out  twice  a  day,  morning  and 
evening,  but  always  with  an  elderly  lady,  a  sister 
of  Dr.  Brown,  whom  you  could  never  influence  in 
any  way ;  an  awful  sour  old  maid." 

"  Well,  then,  will  you  find  an  opportunity  to  give 
her  this  letter  and  bring  one  from  her  to  me  when 
I  call  again  at  the  same  time  to-morrow  ?"  and  he 
handed  him  the  letter  wrapped  in  a  twenty  dollar 
bill. 

"  I  will  try.  I  think  I  can  get  the  letter  to  her 
unobserved.  Whether  she  can  get  a  chance  to  an- 
swer it  or  not  is  another  thing." 

As  Lockwell  departed  the  footman  looked  at  the 
bill  and  muttered,  "  This  is  not  a  bad  day's  work, 
and  I  will  continue  to  be  faithful  to  the  lovers  as 
long  as  it  pays.  But  I  wish  I  could  make  the  old 
chap  come  down  too.  I  must.  It  is  not  right  that 
the  lovers  should  have  to  pay  all  the  expenses.  Yes 
giree,  I  will  call  upon  the  old  codger  when  he  is 


328  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

comfortabl)'  fixed  in  liis  libraiy  after  dinner,  and  if 
I  have  put  him  up  right  he  will  come  down  also, 
but  if  I  can't  turn  an  honest  penny  out  of  him  I 
will  devote  my  whole  efforts  to  the  success  of  the 
lovers." 

That  same  evening,  as  the  damsel  and  her  chap- 
eron were  coming  up  stairs  from  dinner,  they  met 
the  footman  coming  down.  He  passed  on  the  side 
of  the  young  lady,  and,  just  as  he  got  by,  trod  on 
the  trail  of  her  dress.  She  turned  to  see  what  de- 
tained her,  and  saw  the  letter  extended  toward  her. 
Quick-witted,  she  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance, 
snatched  the  letter  and  placed  it  in  her  bosom,  then 
rejoined  her  companion  without  exciting  suspicion. 
Then  going  to  her  mother's  room  she  fervently 
kissed  that  lady,  who,  from  having  been  an  invalid 
for  years,  was  now  seldom  able  to  leave  her  room,, 
and  the  affectionate  daughter  kejDt  these  troubles  of 
hers  almost  wholly  from  her  mother. 

That  night,  wdien  the  dueima  had  been  long  asleep, 
the  maiden  cautiously  arose,  turned  on  the  gas,  and 
fixed  a  screen  to  shade  the  eyes  of  the  sleeper ;  then, 
getting  the  largest  book  in  the  room,  opened  it  in 
her  lap  and  spread  out  the  letter  to  read.  It  con- 
tained but  few  words,  and  those  were  that  he  most 
earnestly  desired  her  to  become  his  wife  at  once, 
and  that  as  she  was  really  her  own  mistress,  he  beg- 
ged her  to  grant  him  permission  and  he  would  at 


WILL  HE  DARE?  329 

once  come  for  her  with  a  carriage,  and  then  drive 
to  the  nearest  parsonage,  where  they  would  be  made 
man  and  wife  without  loss  of  time.  Without  a 
blush  she  read  the  letter :  it  was  just  what  she  ex- 
pected ;  rising,  she  went  very  softly  to  her  escritoir, 
and  taldng  thence  a  sheet  of  note  paper  and  pencil 
returned  to  her  book  to  reply.  She  dared  not  use 
ink,  fearing  the  sleeper  might  awaken  and  see  the 
bottle,  but  now,  if  seen  at  all,  she  would  simply  ap- 
pear to  be  reading,  and  she  was  ready  with  her  lit- 
tle story  to  say,  if  asked,  that  she  had  been  unable 
to  sleep,  and  so  was  desirous  of  reading  to  pass  away 
the  time,  etc.  But  the  sleeper  did  not  awaken,  and 
the  other  finished  her  letter  in  peace.  She  told  him 
that  while  she  would  accept  him  for  her  husband,  she 
would  not  consent  to  the  plan  he  suggested,  or  any 
other  that  would  necessarily  remove  her  from  her 
mother,  the  invalid,  who  needed  her  care  now  more 
than  ever  before.  If  he  was  willing  to  wait  she 
would  eventually  be  his  wife ;  when,  she  could  not 
say  now.  But  to  marry  now  would  be  to  force  a 
separation  between  herself  and  mother,  and  that 
she  would  never  consent  to. 

This  letter  was  given  the  next  day  to  the  footman 
and  delivered  to  Lockwell  by  him.  Our  hero  asked 
him  if  he  was  acquainted  with  the  rates  of  postage, 
"  for,"  said  he,  "  the  rate  of  postage  is  just  five  dol- 
lars on  each  and  every  letter  delivered  to  me  from 


330  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Miss  Thornton,  and  will  be  collected  by  the  car- 
rier." The  footman  understood,  and  bowed  his 
thanks  as  he  received  the  first  postage  in  the  shape 
of  a  five  dollar  bill. 

This  footman  had  certainly  "  struck  oil,"  for  on 
the  evening  previous,  after  having  delivered  the 
letter  to  his  young  mistress,  he  went  to  his  master's 
library  and  knocked  for  admission.  On  being  told 
to  enter  he  went  in  and  closed  the  door  behind 
him,  and  walked  close  up  to  where  the  venerable 
deacon  was  sitting  in  his  easy-chair. 

"  The  gentleman  whom  you  described  to  me  as 
not  wishing  to  have  enter  your  house  again  called 
this  day,  and,  whe'Q  1  refused  him,  he  offered  me 
twenty  dollars  to  allow  him  to  enter  the  parlor,  and 
tell  Miss  Thornton  to  meet  him  there.  Of  course 
I  could  not  accept  the  bribe,  and  he  departed." 

"  The  hypocritical  villain  !  And  the  brass  to 
dare  enter  my  house  after  what  has  passed !  But, 
James,  you  did  right  not  to  -admit  him.  I  fully  be- 
lieve he  is  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,"  and,  taking 
out  a  two-dollar  bill,  the  old  gentleman  handed  it 
to  his  footman. 

"  Oh,  sir,"  said  that  functionary,  looking  with  ex- 
treme disgust  at  the  diminutive  size  of  the  bill, 
financially  speaking,  "  Oh,  sir,  I  do  not  like  to 
take  pay  for  simply  doing  my  duty,"  at  the  same 
time  pocketing  the  bill. 


WILL  HE  BABE?  331 

"  Your  sentiments  do  you  credit,  and,  remember, 
if  he  comes  again  treat  liim  the  same  way." 

"Yes,  sir,"  and  the  disgusted  footman  retired 
muttering,  "  Two  dollars  !  indeed.  Well,  that  set- 
tles your  side  of  the  question.  I  believe  the  lovers 
are  in  the  right,  and,  if  so,  I  ought  to  assist  them 
anyway." 

After  reading  his  letter  Lockwell  did  not  feel  in 
the  best  of  spirits.  Now  that  he  had  been  accepted, 
and  his  marriage  determined  on,  he  was  very  impa- 
tient to  have  the  ceremony  performed,  and  could 
ill-brook  the  indefinite  delay  determined  upon  by 
the  lady. 

He  loved  her  with  all  the  strength  of  his  passion- 
ate, fiery  nature,  and  he  could  see  no  definite  time 
in  the  future  when  his  love  and  hopes  should  meet 
with  full  fruition.  He  grew  jealous  of  her  mother. 
He  cursed  the  stepfather.  He  snubbed  his  friend, 
the  doctor.  Then  he  sat  down  and  wrote  a  long,  pas- 
sionate appeal  to  her ;  he  wrote  earnestly  ;  he  wrote 
eloquently,  because  he  wrote  as  he  felt ;  he  begged  ; 
he  implored  ;  then  he  threatened  and  coaxed  alter- 
nately, and  finally  wound  up  by  saying,  "  If  you 
loved  me  but  one  tenth  as  much  as  I  love  you  you 
would  marry  me  to-morrow,  nay,  this  very  hour ; 
no  other  considerations  would  occupy  your  mind 
one  moment.  But  if  you  prefer  your  mother  to 
me,  why,  then,  you  are  not  worthy  of  me.     No,  ] 


332  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

don't  mean  that,  but  you  are  not  worthy  of  the  in- 
finite love  I  feel  for  you."  And  when  he  closed  up 
the  letter  he  turned  to  the  doctor,  to  whom  he  kept 
confiding  everything  in  relation  to  this  girl  as  fast 
as  it  occurred,  and  called  her  a  "  heartless  creature, 
a  flirt,  one  who  is  only  going  to  marry  me  anyway 
for  my  money." 

The  doctor  calmly  replied,  "  I  do  not  think  it 
would  be  safe  for  me  to  call  that  estimable  young 
lady  any  such  names  as  you  have  just  done.  Nor 
would  I  wish  to  do  so.  Now,  if  you  can  cease  be- 
ing a  fool  for  a  few  minutes,  I  will  talk  to  you." 

"  Oh,  doctor,  I  am  so  miserable  !" 

"  There  you  go  again,  only  worse.  Miserable  be- 
cause one  of  the  finest  of  young  ladies  has  agreed  to 
become  your  wife,  and  wants  to  put  it  off  a  very 
uncertain  length  of  time  because  her  mother  is 
very  ill  and  needs  kind  care  !  Now  look  at  your 
accusations  against  her.  You  say  that  she  only 
wants  to  marry  you  for  your  money.  Which  has 
the  more  money,  you  or  the  stepfather  of  this 
girl?" 

"  Oh,  the  stepfather  of  course." 

"  And  she  is  the  natural  heir  of  this  man,  and  if 
she  obeyed  him  and  refused  you  she  would  un- 
doubtedly inherit  all  his  j^roperty,  but  by  accepting 
you,  contrary  to  his  wishes,  she  nins  the  risk  of 
losing  all  that,  and  yet,  if  I  correctly  understand 


WILL  HE  DARE?  333 

matters,  she  does  not  take  these  facts  into  consid- 
eration at  all,  but  has  accepted  you  to  the  great  det- 
riment of  her  own  prospects,  financially  speaking, 
at  least.  My  friend,  I  have  been  greatly  mistaken 
in  that  girl.  I  thought  at  first  she  was  just  about 
good  enough  for  you,  and  would  make  you  a  very 
suitable  wife ;  I  now  see  that  she  is  entirely  too  good 
for  you.  Let  me  tell  you  plainly  that  we  physicians 
have  rare  opportunities  for  observing  character,  and 
become  most  excellent  judges  of  human  nature,  and 
I  am  perfectly  certain  that  you  never  could  love  or 
he  contented  cmd  hapjpy  with  a  perfectly  good  wife. 
If  you  marry  an  angel  you  may  venerate  and  adore 
her,  but  you  would  never  be  happy  with  her." 

Lockwell  looked  up  with  a  startled  expression 
upon  his  countenance.  It  seemed  to  him  for  an 
instant  that  the  doctor  must  have  become  aware  of 
his  past  conjugal  experience,  his  description  was  so 
accurate,  but  on  second  thought  he  knew  this  must 
be  impossible,  and  the  doctor  continued  : 

"I*^ow  I  am  very  much  afraid  that  this  girl  is 
too  good  for  you,"  then  rising  he  walked  across 
the  room  to  where  Lockwell  was  sitting,  and, 
grasping  his  hand,  said  in  a  very  earnest  manner, 
"You  know  me  to  be  a  true  friend  of  yours. 
Ever  since  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  of  service 
to  you  in  Conscript  Camp  I  have  taken  a  deep  in- 
terest in  your  welfare,  and  I  hope  and  believe  that 


834  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

the  friendship  is  mutual  between  us  " — Lockwell 
pressed  his  hand  by  way  of  an  affirmative  answer 
— "  and  I  want  you  to  listen  to  me  a  few  moments 
while  I  give  you  my  views  and  advice.  You 
ought  to  marry  and  settle  down ;  you  are  eminently 
fitted  to  make  a  wife  haj^py,  and  to  be  very  happy 
yourself  as  a  husband,  and,  notwithstanding  all  I 
have  just  said,  I  believe  this  girl  that  we  are  speak- 
ing of  will  make  you  a  very  happy  husband,  and 
you  will  make  her  a  very  happy  wife,  and  the 
sooner  you  marry  her  the  better  for  you  both,  but 
you  are  impetuous,  hot-headed,  and  high-tempered, 
and  though  you  deeply  love  this  girl  you  are  liable 
to  do  something  i^sh  which  will  separate  you  both 
permanently,  and  ruin  all  the  genuine  hopes  of  hap- 
piness of  each.  This  must  not  l^e  ;  therefore  I  say 
again,  marry  this  young  lady  just  as  soon  as  you 
possibly  can." 

"  I  u-ish  I  could  take  your  advice  and  marry  her 
this  minute,  but  she  refuses  to  marry  me  now,  and 
I  can't  compel  her  to  do  so ;  then  what  am  I  to  do  ?" 

"  She  refuses  to  marry  you  now  simply  because 
she  believes  that  that  would  inevitably  separate  her 
from  her  invalid  mother,  who  now  needs  her  care, 
and,  like  the  dutiful  daughter  she  is,  no  consider- 
ation of  self  will  induce  her  to  forsake  that  mother  ; 
but  write  to  her  fully,  and  plainly,  and  coolly, 
setting  forth  your  deep  love  for  her,  and  urging 


WILL  EE  DABE?  335 

a  secret  marriage^  pledging  yourself  never  to  reveal 
it  until  she  is  willing,  so  that  it  would  make  no 
possible  difference  in  her  present  life  or  in  her  re- 
lations to  her  mother  or  stepfather.  Convince  her 
of  this,  and  my  word  for  it  she  will  no  longer  re- 
fuse to  marry  you." 

"  Do  you  really  think  so,  doctor  ?  Oh,  if  she 
would  do  so  I  do  most  fully  believe  that  would 
ensure  the  happiness  of  all  concerned." 

"  I  have  not  a  doubt  of  it.  I  believe,  moreover, 
that  the  great  mistake  both  you  and  she  are  now 
making  is  in  not  properly  appreciating  the  venera- 
ble stepfather." 

"  He  is  a  heathen." 

"  No,  he  is  a  Christian,  and  there  is  the  trouble. 
JS'ot  being  a  Christian  yourself  you  do  not  under- 
stand or  appreciate  the  motives  by  which  he  is 
actuated.  I  know  the  gentleman  very  well  by 
reputation,  and,  unless  I  am  entirely  in  error  in 
my  estimate  of  his  character,  he  is  actuated  by  a 
sense  of  duty  only.  He  does  not  consider  that  you 
are  calculated  to  promote  the  lady's  welfare  either 
temporarily  or  eternally,  and  in  all  his  actions  to- 
ward her  I  have  no  doubt  he  only  considers  what 
he  thinks  is  for  her  best  good.  So,  now,  if  you  and 
she  were  really  married,  instead  of  continuing  to 
act  toward  you  as  he  does  at  present,  he  would 
reason  with  himself  that  he  had  done  his  duty  in 


336  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

tlie  matter,  and  now  as  it  could  not  be  hel^^ed  he 
must  make  the  best  of  the  inevitable,  and  he  would 
welcome  jou  to  his  house  sadly,  but  sincerely." 

"  Then  if  I  succeed  in  persuading  her  to  a  secret 
marriage  why  not  go  and  tumble  down  at  the 
old  codger's  feet,  confess  all,  and  ask  to  be  par- 
doned ?" 

"  Do  you  wish  to  do  that  ?'' 

"  I  can't  say  that  I  hanker  after  the  position,  but 
I  tell  you,  doctor,  that  if  it  would  be  conducive  to 
her  welfare  I  think  I  would  even  consent  to  sprawl 
before  him." 

"  "Well,  you  will  not  have  to  do  anything  of  the 
kind.  If  the  lady  consents  to  marry  you  it  will 
only  be  when  she  is  fully  satisfied  that  it  can  be 
kept  a  secret  from  your  future  stepfather-in-law, 
and  this  you  will  have  to  promise  and  guarantee 
her  before  she  will  ever  marry  you. .  She  will 
never  risk  what  she  will  consider  the  chances  of  his 
unrelenting  and  unforgiving  nature,  and  so  the  fear 
of  his  forbidding  her  the  house  or  sei:»arating  her 
in  some  way  from  her  mother.  I  fear  she  is  some- 
what like  yourseK,  so  little  of  a  Christian  that  she 
cannot  properly  appreciate  the  motives  of  this 
exemplary  man.  No,  your  only  chance  is  to  prom- 
ise eternal  secrecy  and  everything  else  she  may  re- 
quire, then  marry  her  as  soon  as  possible." 

"  Doctor,   I   believe  you   are  right ;    you  most 


WILL  HE  BABE?  337 

always  are ;  and  joii  are  a  good  friend  of  mine  ; 
now  will  jon  boss  this  job  for  me  ?  I  feel  inca- 
pable of  doing  it  myself.  One  minute  I  feel  like 
jumping  overboard,  and  the  next  minute  I  want  to 
blow  out  tlie  brains  of  that  '  exemplary '  old  cuss, 
as  you  call  him." 

"  As  I  call  him  ?  You  are  mistaken  ;  I  never  use 
such  expressions  as  '  old  cuss  ;'  they  are  not  polite. 
I  said  he  was  exemplary  and  so  he  is.  He  is  an 
upright,  conscientious  man  whose  every  action  is 
regulated  by  a  high  sense  of  Christian  duty." 

"  "Well,  well,  let  him  slide.  Will  you  manage  this 
business  for  me?  You  know  everything,  and  are 
cool  and  dispassionate ;  I  will  do  ever}i;hing  exactly 
as  you  say  if  you  will  consent  to  direct  me  fully  in 
this  matter." 

"  Yery  well,  I  will  do  the  best  I  can  ;  now  get 
your  pen  and  ink  and  write  as  I  shall  dictate,  for 
you  must  send  this  letter  off  at  once  before  she  has 
time  to  answer  your  last  idiotic  one." 

A  long  letter  was  dictated  by  the  doctor,  and 
written  by  Lockwell,  full  of  good  sound  argument 
going  to  show  why  no  possible  harm  could  result 
from  a  secret  marriage,  and  pledging  his  honor  that 
not  a  soul  should  ever  know  of  it  until  she  gave  her 
consent,  and  closing  by  a  most  urgent  appeal  to 
her  in  the  name  of  their  mutual  love  to  give  her 
consent    to    an    immediate    secret    marriage,   and 


338  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

showed  how  the  way  could  be  cleared  of  every  pos- 
sible difficulty. 

Tliis  letter  written,  sealed,  and  sent,  Lockwell 
felt  comparatively  happy.  Did  no  thought  of  his 
absent  wife  occupy  his  mind  all  this  time  ?  Not  an 
hour  jjassed  but  what  he  thought  of  her;  but  he 
fully  believed  that  his  present  arrangements  would 
conduce  to  the  happiness  of  all  parti*es.  His  absent 
vrdc  should  never  know,  his  present  wife  should 
never  know,  and  in  that  ignorance  should  consist 
the  greatest  happiness  of  all  concerned.  He  often 
asked  himself  what  other  course  he  could  have 
pursued  witliout  rendering  either  himscK  or  others 
miserable,  and  he  colild  think  of  none. 

Impatiently  he  awaited  the  reply  to  his  letter. 
He  was  in  a  fever  of  anxiety ;  now  that  his  course 
was  marked  out  for  him  he  was  anxious  to  follow 
it  with  all  the  speed  possible.  He  loved  this  girl 
with  all  the  ardor  of  his  intensely  passionate  nature, 
and  absence  from  her  was  torture  to  him.  In  two 
days  he  received  his  reply ;  it  was  biief  but  explicit 
and  decided.  In  about  three  weeks'  time  she  would 
marry  him,  but  only  upon  his  assurances  that  it 
should  be  kept  absolutely  secret  from  every  one. 
She  would  not  even  tell  her  own  mother  for  fear  of 
distressing  her,  although  Lockwell  stood  high  in 
her  mother's  favor. 

Lockwell  was  beside  himself  with  joy.  He  wrung 


WILL  HE  DARE?  339 

the  doctor's  hand  and  called  him  his  savionr,  and 
yet,  after  the  first  feelings  of  perfect  happiness 
which  he  experienced  npon  the  receipt  of  her 
letter,  he  began  for  the  first  time  to  feel  some  little 
misgivings  as  to  the  strict  propriety  of  the  course 
he  was  following.  He  was  no  coward,  yet  when  he 
considered  that  the  having  two  wives,  even  though 
one  was  in  South  America,  was  a  crime  which, 
if  known,  would  send  him  to  State  prison,  he  felt 
somewhat  worried,  and  could  not  always  dissipate 
his  anxious  thoughts  by  assuring  himself  that  dis- 
covery was  impossible.  The  yearly  letter  he  re- 
ceived from  his  wife  was  answered  at  once  then 
burned.  And  now  his  future  arrangements  would 
be  such  as  he  knew  would  preclude  the  possibility 
of  any  discovery  from  that  source.  And  yet  he 
realized  that  his  happiness  was  somewhat  marred  by 
thoughts  of  unknown  and  unexpected  dangers 
which  might  be  encompassing  him.  And  so  the 
days  went  by  and  the  time  for  his  second  nuptials 
drew  near.  All  the  arrangements  had  been  com- 
pleted under  the  advice  and  direction  of  the  doctor. 
At  midnight  on  the  next  Tuesday  Lockwell  was  to 
be  one  block  from  her  father's  residence  with  a  car- 
riage, and  at  that  hour,  when  all  the  inmates  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  Brown  should  be  asleep,  she  would 
cautiously  steal  forth,  enter  the  carriage,  and  be 
driven  rapidly  to  the  residence  of  a  clergyman  who 


340  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

was  a  friend  of  Lockwell,  and  who  had  consented 
to  officiate  in  making  the  twain  one  at  that  rather 
unusual  hour. 

The  eventful  night  arrived.  Lockwell  was  at  the 
appointed  place  long  before  midnight.  He  sat  in 
the  carriage  till  fifteen  minutes  of  twelve,  then  got 
out  and  walked  by  the  house  ;  everything  was  dark 
and  still ;  he  paced  softly  up  and  down  in  front  of 
the  door. 

The  clock  in  the  neighboring  church  tower  struck 
twelve;  five  minutes  past  the  door  was  softly 
opened,  the  beloved  form  of  her  whom  he  so 
deeply  loved  appeared  on  the  outside,  and  the  next 
instant  was  pressed  to  his  heart.  They  hastened  to 
the  carriage  and  were  driven  swifty  to  the  parson- 
age, where  they  found  the  reverend  gentleman 
awaiting  them;  ten  minutes  more  and  they  were 
passing  out  of  that  door  as  man  and  wife ! 

On  their  way  back  the  driver  of  the  carriage, 
who  was  well  paid  and  had  had  his  instructions, 
went  by  a  very  circuitous  route  and  very  slowly,  so 
that  they  were  over  an  hour  in  returning,  whereas 
they  had  only  been  about  fifteen  minutes  in  going. 
He  saw  his  bride  safely  enter  the  door  of  her  dwell- 
ing, and  then  drove  to  his  own  rooms. 

That  night,  when  he  retired  to  his  own  couch,  he 
fully  realized  that  he  was  a  criminal  and  the  hus- 
band of  two  wives — one  of  whom  he  venerated  and 


WILL  HE  DARE?  341 

adored,  and  the  other  he  loved  with  all  the  concen- 
trated intensity  of  an  extremely  passionate  nature — 
and  yet  he  fell  asleep  with  no  compunctions  of  con- 
science. 


342  ZZy^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


THE    SECOND   -WIFE. 


LocKWELL  moved  his  quarters  up  to  the  next 
street,  and  within  two  blocks  of  his  second  -tv^fe's 
residence,  and  here  she  was  able  to  visit  him  fre- 
quently without  exciting  any  suspicion  on  the  part 
of  her  stepfather  or  of  his  sister. 

They  had  been  married  about  one  month  when 
Lockwell  received  a  hote  from  his  friend,  the  doc- 
tor, asking  him  to  call  and  see  him  that  evening 
upon  business  of  importance.  Since  the  wedding 
the  friends  had  not  met  so  frequently  as  formerly, 
owing  to  the  increasing  business  of  the  doctor  and 
also  to  the  fact  that  Lockwell's  time  was  much  more 
taken  up  now  than  formerly,  so  that  when  he  re- 
ceived this  note  he  had  not  seen  his  friend  for  a 
week.  Wondering  what  it  could  mean  he  hastened 
to  the  doctor's  rooms,  and  was  surjDrised  when  the 
latter  informed  him  that  he  (the  doctor)  had  been 
three  times  to  see  Dr.  Brown. 

"  "What  under  the  sun  took  you  to  see  that  old 
scalliwag — I  mean  that  old  exemplar?" 

"  Well,  sit  down  and  I  will  tell  you.     You  re- 


THE  SECOND   WIFE.  343 

member  I  told  you  that  I  fully  believed  when  be 
should  come  to  know  that  you  two  were  married  he 
would  accept  the  inevitable  with  a  good  grace. 
Well,  my  first  visit  to  him  was  to  see  if  a  personal 
interview  would  confirm  or  remove  my  impressions 
in  regard  to  him,  and,  having  a  patient  in  his  vicinity 
who  was  very  ill,  I  took  the  opportunity  to  have  him 
called  in  to  consult  with  me.  The  interview  caused 
me  to  feel  that  I  had  made  a  correct  estimate  in  re- 
gard to  his  character.  This  was  before  I  saw  you 
the  last  time,  but  I  did  not  tell  you  anything  about 
it  for  obvious  reasons.  The  next  interview  was  at 
my  own  request  for  a  private  one  at  his  own  house. 
There  I  stated  to  him  plainly  that  I  was  a  friend  of 
yours ;  that  I  had  known  you  for  a  long  time, 
and,  in  short,  passed  a  very  high  eulogium  upon 
your  general  character  (may  the  Lord  forgive  me !), 
and  then  told  him  that  I  knew  you  were  deeply 
attached  to  his  daughter,  and  desired  to  know  why 
he  objected  to  your  visiting  her.  I  admit  he 
frowned  savagely  when  I  asked  this  question,  and 
wanted  to  know  if  I  spoke  by  your  authority.  I 
replied  in  the  afiirmative,  for  you  remember  you 
gave  me  carte  hlanclie  to  manage  your  matrimonial 
business,  and  I  did  not  consider  it  finished  by  any 
means  when  you  were  married.  Then  he  said  that 
a  man  who  would  go  into  a  prayer  meeting  and 
make  a  prayer  for  the  sole  purpose   of   deceiving 


344  ZzY  SEARCH  OF  GOLD 

him  never  would  make  a  good  husband  for  a  good 
girl,  and  his  duty  to  the  young  lady  whom  Pro^d- 
dence  had  placed  under  his  care  would  compel 
him  to  use  every  means  in  liis  power  to  prevent  her 
from  ruining  all  her  future  life  by  marrying  such  a 
man.  So  you  see,  my  friend,  that  that  prayer  of 
yours  has  been  answered  jnst  as  it  deserved  it  be." 

"  But  I  never  prayed  for  this  old — old — " 

"  Exemplary  Christian." 

"Exemplary  Christian  to  get  his  back  up  this 
way,  and  try  to  ruin  the  happiness  of  everyone 
around  him.  Well,  I  have  prayed  a  great  many 
times  since  that  the  devil  will  soon  gobble  him  up, 
and  I  hope  these  prayers  will  speedily  be  answered 
too." 

"  There,  subside,  I  have  got  the  floor  this  even- 
ing ;  besides  I  did  not  send  for  you  to  talk,  but  only 
to  listen.  To  resume,  I  talked  with  him  a  long, 
long  time,  trying  to  persuade  him  that  a  marriage 
between  you  two  was  the  only  means  of  securing  her 
happiness  as  well  as  your  own.  I  reasoned  with  him 
for  full  an  hour,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  He  said  as 
I  was  leaving  that  he  believed  it  would  be  far  bet- 
ter for  the  lady  if  she  were  laid  in  her  grave  rather 
than  given  to  you  in  marriage." 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  he  was  an  old — " 

"  Exemplary  Christian,  and  he  is  now  doing  his 
duty  just  as  an  exemplary  Christian  should.     But 


THE  SECOND   WIFE.  345 

even  such  men  are  not  infallible,  and  I  tliink  tlie 
only  mistake  lie  has  made,  if  any,  is  in  misjudging 
your  social  and  conjugal  qualities,  and  tliis,  on  sec- 
ond thought,  you  must  admit,  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at ;  in  fact,  from  what  he  has  seen  of  you  it  would 
Ije  very  surprising  if  he  could  form  any  other 
estimate  of  your  character  than  such  as  he  has. 
Well,  so  ended  my  second  interview,  and  I 
came  away  with  about  half  a  mind  that  at  my  third 
or  next  interview,  which  took  place  to-day,  I  would 
tell  him  plainly  that  you  and  she  were  married." 

"  Great  heavens !  I  hope  you  have  not  done  so  ; 
she  will  never  forgive  me  if  you  have." 

The  doctor  continued  without  heeding  the  inter- 
ruption : 

"  To-day  I  went  again  to  see  him  and  resumed 
the  same  subject.  I  also  took  with  me  a  letter  to 
your  wife,  of  which  this  is  a  copy  ;  listen  while  I 
read  it  to  you  : 

"  My  Dear  Mes.  Lockwell  : — When  you  re- 
.ceive  this  letter  I  shall  have  communicated  the 
fact  of  your  marriage  to  Dr.  Brown,  deeming 
it  best  for  all  concerned  so  to  do.  All  you  have 
to  do  is  to  throw  yourself  into  his  arms  and 
tell  him  that  your  happiness  depended  upon  this 
marriage,  etc.,  then  gradually  use  your  woman's 
tact  to  show  hini  that  now  it  is  past  and  cannot  be 


346  '  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

undone.  It  becomes  his  Christian  duty  to  try  to 
convert  your  husband  from  the  error  of  his  ways, 
and  this  cannot  be  done  by  any  harsh  measures, 
and,  my  word  for  it,  he  will  soon  see  it  in  that 
light  and  welcome  you  both.  The  trouble  is  that, 
as  neither  you  nor  your  husband  are  typical 
Christians,  you  cannot  properly  apj^reciate  this  ex- 
emplary Christian  gentleman.  Your  husband  has 
not  the  slightest  idea  of  what  I  have  done,  nor 
would  he  permit  it  if  he  knew.  As  this  is  written 
before  the  interview  I  cannot  tell  you  anything 
further. 

"I  am  always  your  and  your  husband's  best 
fidend, 

"  The  Doctor." 

"  This  letter  I  took  \vith  me  to  be  left  only  in 
case  I  concluded  to  inform  the  worthy  jDhysician  of 
the  true  state  of  affairs.  I  will  not  keep  you  in 
suspense  by  detailing  our  long  conversation,  but 
come  at  once  to  the  point.  Before  leaving  his 
house  I  told  him  point  blank  that  you  had  been 
married  to  his  stepdaughter  for  a  month!  It 
stai'tled  him  at  first,  and  he  was  not  disposed  to 
believe  it,  but  I  soon  convinced  him  of  the  fact, 
and  then,  instead  of  being  as  angry  as  I  expected, 
he  became  very  sad.  He  deeply  loves  his  wife,  and 
is  also  greatly  attached  to  his  daughter,  and  I  could 
not  help  feeling  very  sorry  for  the  old  gentleman 


THE  SECOND   WIFE.  347 

to  see  his  deep  grief  at  tlie  thought  that  this  young 
lady  had  thrown  herself  away  upon  you." 

"  He  is  an  old  fool !" 

"  I  consoled  him  as  well  as  I  knew  how  by  telling 
him  that  perhaps  you  were  something  like  a  singed 
cat — much  better  than  you  appeared.  He  finally 
ex])rcssed  a  desire  to  see  you,  and  I  told  him  you 
would  call  upon  him  at  an  early  hour  to-morrow 
morning." 

"  I  will  be  hanged  if  I  do." 

"  Yes  you  will,  and  not  only  that,  but  before  go- 
ing there  you  will  '  put  yourself  in  his  place,'  and 
then  you  will  see  that  he  has  done  nothing  but  what 
a  sincere,  devoted,  earnest,  exemplary  Christian  gen- 
tleman should  do.  Then  you  will  go  and  see  him 
in  a  proper  spirit ;  he  will  receive  you  sorrowfully, 
but  as  a  friend,  and  then,  if  you  behave  yourself 
properly,  he  will  receive  you  into  his  house  as  the 
husband  of  his  stepdaughter,  and  insist  upon  your 
staying  at  his  house  until  you  shall  have  provided 
suitable  accommodations  for  your  wife,  and  until 
her  mother  shall  have  become  better." 

"  Oh,  do  you  think  so,  doctor  ?  If  so  I  will  hug 
the  old — I  mean  I  will  embrace  the  exemplary 
Christian.  And,  Doctor,  you  are  and  always  have 
been  the  best  friend  that  any  human  being  ever  was 
blessed  with.  What  can  I  do  to  repay  you  for  all 
you  have  done  for  me  ?" 


348  I]^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"l^othing  DOW.  If  I  ever  want  a  friend  rest  as- 
sured I  will  not  liesitate  to  call  upon  you,  and  I 
know  you  will  never  fail  me." 

"  God  knows  I  never  will." 

"  In  the  mean  time  I  only  wish  to  see  you  happy. 
I  cannot  perhaps  tell  why  it  is,  but  I  never  had  a 
brother  of  my  own,  and  that  may  be  a  part  of  the 
reason  why  I  liked  you  the  first  day  I  ever  saw  you, 
and  since  then  I  have  learned  to  love  you  as  strong- 
ly as  ever  one  brother  loved  another."  They  then 
embraced,  and  swore  that  nothing  ever  would  or 
could  happen  which  would  alienate  their  friendship 
one  from  the  other. 

At  an  early  hour 'the  next  morning  LockweU 
rang  the  bell  at  the  c  ffice  of  Dr.  Brown,  and  the 
door  was  023ened  to  him  by  that  individual  himseK. 
LockweU  was  very  much  confused  on  first  seeing 
Dr.  Brown,  as  he  did  not  know  exactly  how  to  ad- 
dress him ;  he  did  not  know  if  he  should  call  him 
father  or  not,  and  in  his  confusion  he  came  very 
near  calling  him  the  only  name  that  occurred  to 
liim,  and  that  was  "  exemplary  Christian."  How- 
ever, he  quickly  recovered  himself  as  the  other  ex- 
tended his  hand  and  remarked : 

"  My  wife's  daughter's  husband  is  now  and  I  hope 
always  will  be  welcome  to  this  house.  You  know, 
of  course,  that  I  am  sorry  this  has  occurred,  but  it 
cannot  now  be  helped,  and  it  wiU  not  be  my  fault 


THE  SECOND   WIFE.  349 

if  you  ever  treat  your  wife  other  than  as  a  good  and 
faithful  husband  should  treat  his  wife,  and  if  you 
will  treat  her  as  a  Christian,  and  not  as  a  man  of  the 
world,  you  will  receive  every  encouragement  I  can 
pop: 'Illy  give  you.  My  wife  is  too  ill  now  to  part 
with  her  daughter,  therefore  come  and  take  up 
your  abode  with  us  for  the  present,  only  I  ask  as  a 
favor  to  myself  that  you  will  not  take  part  again  in 
our  prayer  meetings." 

"  Give  me  your  hand  again,"  exclaimed  Lockwell. 
"You  have  spoken  like  a — like  an  exemplary 
Christian  gentleman,  and  I  assure  you  it  will  be  my 
constant  endeavor  to  show  you  that  you  have  been 
mistaken  in  the  estimate  you  have  placed  upon  me 
as  a  suitable  husband  for  your  stepdaughter,  and  I 
cheerfully  give  you  my  word  that  I  will  never  pray 
again." 

The  doctor  smiled  sadly  as  he  said ; 

"  ISTo,  I  release  you  from  that  23romise.  I  hope 
the  time  will  come  when  you  will  pray — pray 
as  a  repenting  sinner  in  urgent  need  of  forgive- 
ness." 

"I  think,"  said  Lockwell,  his  old  controversial 
spirit  starting  up  within  him,  "I  think  it  would 
be  better  not  to  sin  and  so  have  no  need  of  either 
repentance  or  forgiveness." 

"And  do  you  never  sin  ?"  asked  the  deacon. 

Lockwell  looked  at  him  intently,  and  his  frank 


350  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

and  open  countenance  showed  plainly  the  sincerity 
of  his  words  as  he  rephed : 

"  I  am  a  thorough  believer  in  the  principles  of 
eudaemonism,  and  as  such  I  never  knowingly  do 
an  action  which  I  think  is  conducive  to  the  misery 
of  any  portion  of  the  animal  kingdom.  I  try  by 
every  means  in  my  power  to  increase  the  sum  of 
comfort  and  pleasure  in  that  kingdom.  When  I 
make  mistakes,  as  all  men  do,  they  are  errors  of 
judgment  and  not  of  the  heart  or  the  intention,  and 
so  are  no  sin.  No,  sir,  I  have  nothing  to  repent  of, 
and  no  forgiveness  to  ask  of  any  one." 

"Well,  well,  you  appear  to  be  sincere  in  what 
you  say,  but  to  me  il  appears  to  be  very  singular. 
However,  I  may  be  somewhat  mistaken  in  my  opin- 
ion of  you ;  but  now  go  up  to  the  parlor,  where 
your  wife  awaits  you.  She  will  show  you  your 
room,  and  then  you  can  order  your  things  brought 
around  here ;  I  must  be  off  to  my  patients.  By  the 
way,  where  is  that  friend  of  yours  who  so  ably 
pleaded  your  cause  for  you?  Ask  him  to  come 
here  ;  I  like  him." 

"  Everyone  likes  liim ;  he  is  one  of  nature's  no- 
blemen." 

In  another  minute  the  husband  and  wife  were 
locked  in  each  other's  arms,  and  expressing  their 
mutual  astonishment  at  the  manner  in  which  the 
worthy  deacon   had    acted   upon  hearing  of  their 


THE   SECOND   WIFE.  351 

marriage,  and  they  resolved  then  and  there  that 
they  would  always  be  dutiful  and  respectful  to  the 
good  old  man,  and  never  hurt  his  feelings,  at  least 
any  more  than  was  absolutely  necessary  for  their 
own  happiness. 

Comfortably  and  happily  established  with  his 
wife  at  the  deacon's  house  the  days  flew  quickly 
away,  and  he  had  been  married  about  as  many 
months  to  his  second  wife  as  he  had  years  to  his 
first  one  when  his  invalid  mother-in-law  was  bur- 
ied. This  left  him  free  to  start  an  establishment 
of  his  own,  and  as  he  had  been  occupying  himself 
in  the  preceding  months  in  speculating  in  stocks, 
and  had  been  quite  successful,  he  was  well  able  to 
carry  out  a  plan  which  he  had  been  gradually  ma- 
turing in  his  mind. 

He  had  become  tired  of  living  in  another  man's 
house,  and  he  now  suggested  to  his  wife  that  they 
should  move  over  to  Brooklyn  and  take  a  house  on 
the  heights.  She  acquiesced  and  the  movement  was 
made.  They  urged  the  good  deacon,  who  was  now 
a  widower,  to  give  up  his  practice  and  go  and  live 
with  them,  but  he  would  not  consent.  Lockwell 
and  his  wife  both  insisted  that  his  old  friend,  the 
doctor,  should  make  his  home  with  them,  and  he 
willingly  did  so. 

As  the  honeymoon  had  long  since  passed,  and 
their  lives  had  become  settled,  the  doctor  looked 


352  m  SEARCH  OF  OOLB. 

closely  to  see  if  there  was  any  diininiition  of  that 
deep  love  which  had  been  mutual  when  they  were 
married,  but  he  only  saw  that  that  love  had  in- 
creased and  strengthened  as  time  went  on.  Prob- 
ably in  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  land 
no  happier  family  could  be  found.  As  their  love 
for  each  other  increased  so  their  friendship  for  him 
dee23ened,  until  both  looked  upon  him  with  the  af- 
fection of  a  well-beloved  brother,  and  he  was  always 
deserving  of  their  affection,  for  a  truer  friend  to 
both  of  them  could  not  have  been.  And  now,  as 
Lock  well  is  situated  thus  pleasantly,  for  the  first 
time  in  our  narrative  we  must  leave  him,  while  we 
visit  the  noble  girl' he  had  left  behind  in  South 
America. 


THE  FIRST  WIFE.  353 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 


THE    FIRST   WIFE. 


Eight  years  have  passed  away  since  in  that  far- 
away South  American  inland  town  a  noble  wife 
gave  up  and  sent  away  a  dearly-loved  husband  for 
that  husband's  happiness. 

Eight  letters  filled  with  expressions  of  devoted 
love  have  passed  from  her  to  him.  Eight  answers 
filled  with  whatever  an  ingenious  brain  could  sug- 
gest to  please  her  have  been  received.  Eight  years 
make  no  noticeable  difference  in  the  appearance  of 
these  two-century-old  towns.  The  same  old  fami- 
lies live  in  the  same  old  places  in  the  same  old 
houses  where  their  ancestors  lived  one  hundred 
years  ago.  In  one  of  them  we  find  the  object  of 
our  search  sitting  upon  the  piazza  teaching  a  little 
boy  a  foreign  language.  Though  not  yet  eight 
years  of  age  he  is  bright  and  quick  to  learn,  and 
has  already  mastered  the  rudiments  of  the  English 
tongue  ;  but  this  afternoon  either  the  lesson  is  more 
difficult,  or  he  is  not  in  a  mood  for  study,  and  his 
task  evidently  frets  and  annoys  him,  for  after  many 
vain  efforts  to  concentrate  his  attention  upon  the 


354  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

Spanish  and  English  grammar  before  him  he  turns 
to  his  teacher  with  an  impatient  gesture,  and  ex- 
claims in  pure  Castihan : 

"  Mother,  why  have  I  got  to  learn  this  horrid 
English  language  ?  None  of  the  other  boys  have  to 
do  so,  and  I  don't  understand  at  all  why  I  must." 

"  I  have  told  you  more  than  once,  my  son,  that 
it  is  the  language  of  your  father ;  it  is  his  native 
tongue ;  it  is  spoken  by  all  the  people  of  that  great 
and  beautiful  country  where  he  is  now  Hving." 

"  Then  why  is  my  father  not  living  here  now 
with  his  family  as  other  fathers  are  doing  ?" 

"  My  boy,  have  I  not  often  told  you  that  you 
must  not  speak  of  these  things  while  you  are  too 
young  to  understand  them  ?  When  you  are  older 
you  will  know  all,  and  then  you  will  see  that  he 
left  me  to  save  my  life,  and  that  he  now  remains 
away  because  I  will  not  permit  him  to  return  here. 
He  does  not  know  that  he  is  a  father,  as  you  were 
born  about  half  a  year  after  he  left,  and  though  I 
write  to  and  hear  from  him  once  a  year  I  have 
never  told  him  of  your  birth,  and  he  has  never 
thought  of  such  a  thing.  This  is  all  that  you  can 
know  at  present.  As  I  have  told  you,  when  you 
are  older  you  will  Imow  everything.  In  the  mean 
time  you  must  always  bear  in  mind  that  you  have 
a  higher  destiny  before  you  than  any  other  boy  in 
the  town,  yes,  or  in  the  country  ;  no  one  else  in  this 


THE  FIRST  WIFE.  355 

whole  country  has  so  noble  a  father  as  yon  have, 
and  you  should  have  but  one  object  in  life,  but  one 
ambition,  to  be  worthy  of  him,  and  to  so  fit  and 
prepare  yourself  that  when  you  meet  him  he  will 
be  proud  of  you,  and  you  will  have  no  fear  or 
shame.  This  has  been  my  one  and  only  thought 
since  the  day  of  your  birth.  This  is  why  I  have 
spent  years  of  arduous  study  in  acquiring  English 
and  other  foreign  languages  in  order  to  teach  them 
to  you.  This  is  why  the  good  padres  come  and 
spend  so  much  time  and  care  to  teach  you  every 
youthful  accomplishment.  Your  father  sent  me  a 
sum  of  money  for  my  own  use  but  not  one  dollar 
have  I  expended  upon  myself.  The  money  is  well 
invested  and  all  the  income  is  used  to  pay  for  your 
education,  and  so  it  will  continue  to  be  until  you 
take  the  whole  amount  and  go  to  meet  your  father 
in  that  great  country  of  the  north." 

"  But,  mother,  when  will  that  be  ?  When  will  I 
go  to  him  ?" 

"  My  plan  was  to  have  you  suitably  accomplished 
and  sufficiently  prepared  by  the  time  you  were 
fourteen  years  of  age,  and  then  to  send  you  to  him 
under  the  care  of  some  merchant  going  from  our 
nearest  seaport  town  to  l!^ew  York.  But  you  are 
improving  so  fast,  and  advancing  in  your  studies  so 
rapidly,  and  withal  I  have  such  an  intense  long- 
ing to  look  once  more  upon  the  face  of  my  husband, 


356  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

that  I  liave  almost  decided  that  as  soon  as  I  can  do 
so  witli  great  pride  I  will  take  yon  by  the  hand 
and  lead  you  to  him  and  say,  '  My  husband,  behold 
our  son.' " 

The  little  fellow  came  up  to  his  mother,  and 
throwing  his  arms  about  her  neck  whispered : 

"Yes,  together  we  will  go  to  see  him.  I  too 
have  a  great  longing  to  see  my  father.  But  as  he 
is  so  great  and  good  and  noble  as  you  say  I  would 
not  for  worlds  that  he  should  see  me  now ;  but  I 
will  work  and  study,  oh,  so  much  harder  than  ever. 
I  will  get  uj)  earlier,  and  work  later.  English  will 
no  longer  be  disao-reeable  to  me  now  that  I  realize 
it  is  the  language  of  the  people  in  that  beautiful 
country  wliere  he  lives,  and  that  when  we  go  there 
we  shall  have  to  speak  it  all  the  time.  How  long 
did  it  take  you  to  learn  it  ?" 

"  It  was  my  constant  study  for  years,  but  when  I 
sent  and  got  the  books  there  was  no  one  here  to 
teach  me,  and  so  it  was  very  difficult  to  learn. 
The  padre  who  has  given  you  lessons  for  so  long 
a  time  only  came  to  this  place  about  three  years 
ago ;  previous  to  that  time  no  one  here  spoke 
English." 

"  Well,  mother,  in  about  two  years  more  I  will 
be  ready  to  go  with  you ;"  then  after  a  pause  he 
added,  "Do  you  remember  you  promised  that  as 
soon  as  I  was  eight  years  of  age  you  would  show  me 


THE  FIRST  WIFE.  357 

my  father's  letters  ?  Tliat  time  will  soon  be  here 
now." 

"  Yes,  I  remember,  but  it  was  with  the  condition 
that  from  that  day  forward  yon  would  speak  to  me 
only  in  English." 

"  I  will  be  ready,"  was  the  answer  proudly  given. 

So  the  task  which  she  had  set  herself  nearly 
eight  years  before,  to  bring  up  this  boy  in  such  a 
way  that  when  she  sent  or  took  him  to  his  father 
he  would  be  a  youth  that  would  bring  pride  to  any 
parent's  heart,  was  in  a  fair  way  to  be  successfully 
accomplished. 

The  boy  had  developed  as  yet  only  the  most 
amiable  qualities.  In  fact  it  seemed  impossible  for 
him  to  inherit  from  his  parents  anything  evil  in  his 
disposition.  And  it  was  with  most  unspeakable 
joy  that  his  mother,  while  closely  watching  liim  as 
he  grew  older,  saw  only  good  in  his  disposition  and 
amiability  in  his  character.  Endowed  with  rare 
intelligence  he  made  rapid  progress  in  his  educa- 
tion, and  at  eight  years  of  age  stood  on  a  plane 
with  boys  of  twelve  or  more.  l!^or  was  this  at  all 
surprising  when  we  consider  that  in  the  years  of 
his  early  infancy  his  mother  had  toiled  constantly 
to  thoroughly  master  for  herself  those  things  which 
she  thought  it  would  be  necessary  to  teach  him  in 
order  to  fit  him  for  making  a  very  creditable  ap- 
pearance when  he  should  aj^pear  before  his  father. 


358  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

On  this  object  slie  had  set  her  heart,  and  to  accom- 
plish this  purpose  no  trouble  was  too  great,  no 
work  was  too  hard,  and  no  difficulties  but  what  she 
was  determined  to  surmount.  All  these  but  con- 
stituted the  cross  which  she  cheerfully  bore  for 
years,  thinking  only  of  the  crown  she  would  wear 
when,  with  joy  and  pride,  she  would  lead  this  noble 
and  accomplished  boy  up  to  her  ever-loved  husband 
and  say,  "Behold  our  son."  Her  mind  would 
dwell  constantly  upon  this  subject ;  and  when  she 
thought  of  the  astonishment,  joy,  and  pride  with 
which  the  father  would  embrace  his  handsome  son, 
she  was  inspired  to  fresh  effort  in  his  behalf.  Thf, 
love  she  bore  her  husband  had  never  been  lessened 
by  the  lapse  of  time  and  absence,  but  only  intensi- 
fied and  sanctified  by  these. 

She  lived  now  but  for  one  thing  alone — to  make 
of  her  son  a  gift  worthy  to  be  presented  to  her 
husband.  At  times,  when  the  thought  would  cross 
her  mind  that  one  or  the  other  of  them  might 
die  before  the  time  of  meeting,  she  would  turn 
pale,  and  her  heart  would  almost  cease  to  beat ;  but 
these  doubts  would  last  but  an  instant.  She  had 
an  abiding  faith  that  the  Holy  Virgin  would  never 
let  her  fail  in  this  the  great  object  of  her  life. 

And  so  the  days  went  by.  Her  handsome  boy, 
working  with  a  precocious  determination  to  second 
all  her  efforts,  daily  increased  his  store  of  knowl- 


THE  FIBST  WIFE.  359 

edge.  He  ceased  to  associate  with  tlie  boys  of  his 
own  age,  and  visited  only  the  best  famihes  in  the 
place,  especially  those  who  had  traveled  in  foreign 
countries,  and  from  them  he  learned  to  practice 
all  the  rules  and  regulations  of  etiquette  as  ob- 
served in  other  lands.  His  mother  had  always 
taught  him  to  be  proud  of  that  father  whom  he 
had  never  seen,  and  now  his  own  ambition  and 
desire  to  be  a  credit  to  his  parents  was  scarcely 
second  to  that  of  his  mother. 

Long  before  the  two  years  were  up  in  which  he 
had  promised  his  mother  be  would  be  prepared 
to  meet  his  father,  they  both  knew  that  neither  he 
nor  his  mother  need  now  be  ashamed  to  mingle 
among  the  best  society  of  any  country.  She,  in 
preparing  herself  to  instruct  her  boy,  had  uncon- 
sciously changed  vastly  for  the  better,  both  physi- 
cally and  mentally.  While  so  many  lose  their 
beauty  as  they  advance  in  years,  she,  having  none 
to  lose,  had  really  gained  it.  The  pleasure  of  de- 
voting herself  to  the  cause  of  her  husband  and  son 
had  obliterated  every  trace  of  coarseness  from  her 
features  and  manners,  and  to-day,  in  the  aristocratic 
parlors  of  New  York,  although  she  would  not  have 
been  considered  handsome  by  any  means,  yet  her 
appearance  would  have  been  pronounced  pleasing 
and  interesting,  and  she  well  knew  that  while  her 
husband  would  have  every  reason  to  be  proud  of 


360  IN  SEAEGH  OF  GOLD. 

their  noble  boy  lie  would  have  no  reason  to  be 
ashamed  of  her,  and  as  she  thought  of  this,  and 
realized  that  it  meant  when  once  more  they  should 
meet  they  need  never  part  again,  her  very  soul 
was  filled  with  ecstacy,  and  joy  unutterable  was 
her  companion  by  day  and  night,  just  in  anticipa- 
tion of  that  meeting. 

They  had  decided  to  await  the  completion  of 
the  boy's  tenth  year  before  starting  for  the  north, 
and  they  expected  about  that  time  to  receive  the 
yearly  letter  from  Lockwell  wliich  should  announce 
his  safety,  and  immediately  thereafter  they  would 
start  for  his  home  in  the  north  to  surprise  him 
with  an  unknown  son  and  an  unexpected  wife ! 
Not  a  thought  could  he  have  of  the  existence  of  the 
former,  nor  would  he  imagine  such  a  thing  as  his 
wife  coming  to  see  him,  and  still  less  would  he  sus- 
pect the  great  change  for  the  better  in  her  which 
was  the  result  of  ten  years  of  constant  struggle, 
and  as  she  thought  of  this  she  would  blush  with 
conscious  pride  and  pleasure. 

No  kingly  aspirant  ever  looked  forward  to  his 
coronation  with  half  the  joy  that  was  in  the  hearts 
of  these  two  loving  persons  as  they  thought  and 
spoke  of  the  absent  husband  and  father,  so  loved 
and  revered  by  both. 

Some  weeks  must  still  pass  by  before  they  would 
start,  and  in  the  mean  time  they  read  many  English 


THE  FIRST  WIFE.  361 

books,  and  studied  the  maps  and  geography  of  the 
United  States — the  country  of  their  future  home. 
For  months  their  conversation  had  been  carried 
on  only  in  English,  for  this  they  considered  would 
be  the  sole  language  of  their  future. 

On  the  very  day  that  completed  the  tenth  year 
in  the  life  of  young  Jose  a  long  letter  was  received 
by  his  mother  from  Lockwell,  and  immediately 
thereafter  preparations  were  begun  for  the  removal 
of  herself  and  son  to  the  home  of  her  husband 
in  the  land  of  the  north. 

It  was  now  in  the  early  springtime,  and  they 
were  not  desirous  of  reacliing  the  United  States 
until  the  summer  season  began,  so  they  had  ample 
time  to  make  all  arrangements  for  a  final  departure 
from  their  native  soil,  l^either  of  them  ever  ex- 
pected to  revisit  the  scenes  of  their  native  place. 

On  a  bright  and  pleasant  morning  in  the  mid- 
dle of  May  mother  and  son  mounted  their  animals 
and,  accompanied  by  peons  with  several  pack-mules 
carrying  the  baggage,  started  over  the  same  road 
traveled  by  her  husband  so  many  years  before.  As 
every  incident  of  that  memorable  trip  had  been 
fully  described  to  her  in  her  husband's  letters,  she 
took  great  interest  in  every  place  along  the  route, 
asking  every  person  at  the  stopping-places  if  they 
remembered  him,  and,  if  she  was  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  as  was  sometimes  the  case — a  foreigner 


362  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

traveling  through  on  foot  being  a  rare  incident — 
she  would  press  them  with  questions  as  to  how  he 
looked?  Did  he  appear  tired?  Wliere  had  he 
slept,  or  on  what  had  he  sat  down?  Then  she 
would  go  and  sit  in  the  same  seat,  or,  if  she  were 
staying  all  night,  she  would  wish  to  He  on  exactly 
the  same  spot  where  he  had  slept. 

When  they  reached  Guayaquil  she  went  direct 
to  the  priest  who  had  taken  such  care  of  her  hus- 
band ten  years  before,  and  who  was  still  living  in 
the  same  place  and  performing  the  same  duties. 
She  threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  kissed 
him,  and  called  him  her  husband's  saviour. 

Then  she  made  liim  go  over  the  whole  history 
of  her  husband's  burial,  and  shuddered  at  the  re- 
cital, and  when  he  told  her  of  the  great  service 
the  money  she  had  sewn  up  in  his  clothes  had  been 
to  him,  and  how  delighted  he  was  to  receive  it, 
she  tlirew  herself  upon  her  knees  before  a  crucifix 
and  thanlved  the  Holy  Virgin  who  had  inspired  her 
to  place  the  money  as  she  had  done.  Then  with 
the  good  jiadre  on  one  side  of  her  and  her  son  on 
the  other,  she  visited  the  scene  of  her  husband's 
burial  and  resurrection,  and  turned  faint  and 
but  for  the  supj)ort  of  the  pi-iest  would  have 
fallen  to  the  ground  as  the  awful  episode  in  her 
husband's  life  was  thus  brought  so  vividly  to  her 
mind.      The  fearful  graveyard  was  still  a  black  and 


THE  FIRST  WIFE.  363 

barren  waste.  The  pits  whicli  had  been  the  recep- 
tacle of  so  many  human  beings  were  rendered  verj 
plain  bj  the  settling  of  the  earth  which  had  covered 
the  bodies. 

Eecovering  from  her  faintness  she  insisted  upon 
being  shown  the  very  spot  where  the  dogs  had 
dragged  him  out,  and  also  where  her  companion 
had  found  him  in  the  morning,  lying,  all  uncon- 
scious, upon  the  cold  ground. 

They  remained  with  the  padre  the  three  days 
that  they  had  to  wait  for  the  steamer  going  uj)  to 
Panama,  and  during  all  that  time  she  talked  con- 
stantly of  her  husband,  and  never  could  hear  enough 
of  the  good  priest's  description  of  the  time  when  he 
remained  with  him. 

On  board  the  steamer  the  mother  and  son  are  al- 
ways thinking  of  the  same  subject:  the  meeting 
and  future  life  with  the  husband  in  the  far-off  land. 
She  would  picture  to  herself  the  glad  surprise  with 
which  he  would  receive  her  and  their  noble  boy. 
How  astonished  and  proud  he  would  be  when  he 
saw  him,  and  how  that  joy  and  pride  would  increase 
when  he  became  fully  acquainted  with  young  Jose. 

It  was  not  without  cause  that  she  felt  proud  of 
her  son.  He  was  all  that  any  parent  could  wish  to 
have  him.  Fond  and  affectionate,  without  being 
effeminite;  manly,  without  being  rude  or  rough; 
kind   and    generous  in   his   disposition,  he  fairly 


864  11^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

idolized  his  mother,  and,  through  her  teachings,  he 
had  learned  to  love  his  father  as  much  as  it  was 
possible  for  him  to  love  one  whom  he  had  never 
seen.  And  now  his  impatience  to  see  that  father 
was  almost  uncontrollable.  So  we  leave  them  to 
continue  their  journey,  elated  with  hope  and  joy  in 
anticipation  of  the  ecstacy  of  meeting  to  part  no 
more. 


THE  TWO  WIFE8  365 


CHAPTEE  XXiy. 

THE  TWO    WIVES. 


It  was  evening  on  tlie  first  day  of  Jnne.  Dinner 
was  over  and  the  lights  had  just  been  lit  in  the 
drawing-room  of  Lockwell's  residence.  He,  his 
wife,  and  Dr.  Train  were  seated  around  a  small 
table  about  to  begin  a  game  of  whist  in  which 
Lockwell  was  to  have  Dummy  for  a  partner.  ISTo 
friend  had  been  invited  in,  as  was  usually  the  case, 
to  make  up  the  game,  because  on  the  morrow 
they  were  to  leave  all  together  to  spend  the  sum- 
mer in  the  country  and  on  the  sea-shore,  and  they 
intended  to  play  but  a  short  hour  before  retiring 
to  their  respective  rooms  to  complete  their  j^rep- 
rations  for  departure,  and  get  a  good  night's  rest. 

"  Ma  chere,"  said  Lockwell,  using  the  term  by 
which  he  always  addressed  his  wife,  "  are  you  not 
sorry  that  we  are  going  to  leave  this  pleasant  house 
even  for  so  short  a  time  ?  The  years  that  we  have 
spent  beneath  this  roof  have  been  to  me  one  un- 
ceasing period  of  happiness,  and  it  seems  to  me  no 
change  can  be  for  the  better,  so  I  almost  wish  we 
had  not  decided  to  go  away  even  for  £o  short  a 
time  as  three  months." 


366  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  Well,"  she  replied,  "  for  my  part  I  care  not 
where  we  are,  so  long  as  we  are  all  three  together. 
You  will  not  be  jealous,  will  you,  if  I  tell  you  that 
until  the  doctor  here  decided  he  could  go  with  us 
I  felt  that  I  would  rather  remain  here  as  we  are  at 
present." 

"  Jealous  !  In  the  years  that  we  have  been  mar- 
ried have  you  ever  seen  the  slightest  sign  of 
jealousy  in  me  ?  It  has  been  said  that  perfect  love 
casteth  out  all  fear,  and  I  know  that  jyerfect  love 
casteth  out  all  jealousy.  And  I  believe  I  love  both 
of  you  with  a  perfect  love,  and  I  should  be  very, 
very  sorry  to  think  that  you  did  not  love  each 
other,"  and  then  in  speaking  of  how  perfect  love 
would  cast  out  all  jealousy  he  thought  of  his 
absent  wife ;  how  she  had  loved  him  with  a  perfect 
love,  and  so  far  from  being  jealous  she  had  sent 
him  away  to  live  among  his  own  countrywomen 
and  refused  to  receive  a  promise  from  him  that  he 
would  never  love  and  marry  again.  Truly  she  had 
loved  him  with  a  perfect  love. 

His  thoughts  were  interrupted  by  his  wife,  who 
said: 

"  "Well,  then,  if  we  three  are  to  have  no  secrets 
from  one  another  I  will  tell  you  now  what  I  was 
waiting  for  the  privacy  of  our  own  room  to  men- 
tion.    My  stepfather  called  upon  me  again  to-day." 

"What,    the    exemplary    Christian?     I    should 


THE   TWO  WIVES.  367 

have  been  very  glad  to  see  him.  He  has  not  been 
here  much  lately.  What  did  he  have  to  say  ?  Tell 
us  all  about  it,  and  then  afterward  give  the  doctor 
a  chance  to  talk ;  he  has  had  no  opportunity  to  say 
a  word  this  evening." 

"  When  there  is  only  light  talk  to  be  carried  on 
I  think  you  and  I  generally  monopohze  it,  but  in 
an  emergency,  or  when  the  talk  required  to  be  of 
good  practical  sound  sense,  I  fancy  we  would  step 
back  and  give  the  doctor  the  floor." 

"Well,  as  there  is  no  emergency  this  evening, 
let  us  hear  what  the  good  deacon  had  to  say." 

He  had  very  little  to  say  to  me,  but  I  had  a  great 
deal  to  say  to  him,  all  of  which  was  very  foolish,  I 
know,  but  I  will  tell  you  as  near  as  I  can  recollect 
all  the  conversation  between  us.  After  the  usual 
remarks,  as  he  appeared  to  be  in  a  very  good 
humor,  I  asked  him  whether  he  would  not  now  con- 
fess that  he  had  been  wrong  in  his  first  judgment 
of  you,  for  I  had  now  been  married  several  years, 
and  during  all  that  time  I  had  never  seen  one  un- 
happy moment.  He  smiled  and  said  he  was  glad 
to  hear  it,  and  hoped  it  would  always  continue,  but 
I  must  remember  that  I  was  still  young  and  hand- 
some, and  that  my  husband  loved  me  dearly.  It 
was  when  I  should  become  old  and  my  beauty 
faded  that  would  test  the  worth  of  my  husband's 
materialistic  principles.     He  hoped  all  would  con- 


368  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

tinue  well,  but  lie  could  not  help  thinking  that 
Christian  principles  were  the  only  sure  foundation 
for  all  permanent  happiness.  I  retorted  that  if 
you  were  a  materialist  I  would  not  exchange  you 
for  all  the  Christians  in  the  world.  He  only  said 
'  Time  will  show/  and  kissed  me  a  sad  good-bye." 

"And,  ma  chere  *Time  will  show' — show  him 
that  other  men  can  be  good  as  well  as  Christians. 
But  I  have  held  this  pack  of  cards  idly  in  my  hand 
long  enough ;   I  now  pro230se  we — " 

"  A  lady  and  a  little  boy  in  the  reception  room 
to  see  Mr.  Lockwell,"  interrupted  a  servant  at  the 
door. 

"  A  lady  and  little  boy  to  see  me  ?  Are  you  not 
mistaken,  James,  was  it  not  the  doctor  she  asked 
for  ?  I  am  sure  there  can  be  no  lady  and  little  boy 
to  see  me." 

"  It  was  Mr.  Lockwell  she  asked  for." 

"  I  presume  it  is  some  stranger  wanting  a  physi- 
cian and  has  got  our  names  mixed.  Go  and  ask 
her  if  it  is  not  the  physician,  Dr.  Train,  whom  she 
wishes  to  see." 

James  retired,  and  Lockwell  laughingly  said  : 

"Now,  ma  chere,  supposing  it  is  a  very  hand- 
some woman,  and  really  wants  to  see  me,  what  will 
you  do  ?" 

"  Why,  I  should  only  say  that  she  can't  have  you 
just  yet.    Eut  if  she  has  come  to  see  the  doctor. 


THE   TWO   WIVES.  369 

and  is  beautiful  and  good,  and  will  make  him  a 
loving  wife,  I  will  say  to  Ler, '  Come,  and  let  the 
bond  of  love  hold  four;'  would  not  that  be  the 
correct  thing  ?" 

James  returned :  "  ITo,  sir,  she  says  it  is  Mr. 
Joseph  Lockwell  whom  she  wishes  to  see." 

"  Then  I  will  go  to  her  at  once.  Good-bye,  ma 
chere,  if  she  is  handsome  I  will  never  come  back." 

He  went  lightly  to  the  reception  room,  thinking 
it  was  some  lady  come  to  ask  aid  for  some  society. 

As  he  entered  the  room  he  saw  an  elegantly 
dressed  lady  standing  by  the  center  table,  on  which 
one  hand  was  resting,  w^hile  the  other  was  on  the 
shoulder  of  the  boy  who  stood  beside  her,  and  her 
face  in  the  full  glare  of  the  light,  but  closely  veiled. 

"  Why,  madam  "  said  he,  as  he  advanced  toward 
her,  "  why  are  you  not  seated  ?" 

When  within  a  few  feet  of  her  a  well-known 
voice  replied,  as  the  veil  was  thrown  back  : 

"  My  husband,  behold  our  son  !" 

One  quick  look  of  recognition,  followed  by  one 
of  mortal  terror,  and  he  exclaimed  : 

"  You !  Oh,  my  God !"  then  staggered  fainting 
to  a  seat.  The  southern  wife  gave  one  piercing 
scream  and  cry  for  help,  then  sprang  to  the  side  of 
the  fainting  man.  In  the  parlor  the  scream  and 
cry  came  simultaneously  to  the  ears  of  the  doctor 
and  the  northern  wife.     In  an  instant  the  former 


370  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

was  in  the  reception  room  and  belield  tlie  fainting 
man  with  the  strange  ladj  bj  his  side.  "  Oh,  sir," 
said  the  latter,  "  save  my  husband."  The  boy  with 
more  presence  of  mind  said :  "  My  father  is  faint- 
ing, sir ;  will  you  please  to  helj)  us  ?"  These  words 
reached  the  doctor,  then  passed  on  and  entered  the 
ears  of  a  marble-white  lady  standing  in  the  door- 
way looking  upon  the  scene  with  eyes  of  fire.  She 
muttered,  "Husband,"  "Father,"  then  to  the 
woman  whose  head  was  now  upon  the  fainting 
man  she  said  in  a  voice  that  rang  through  the 
house,  "  Woman,  who  are  you  .^" 

"  I,"  said  the  southern  lady,  "  why,  I  am  liis 
wife,  and  this  is  his'  son,  and  we  thought  to  give 
him  such  a  happy  surprise,  but  as  he  was  not  look- 
ing for  us  the  surprise  has  been  too  much  for  him 
and  he  has  fainted.  If  3'ou  are  a  friend  of  his 
won't  you  help  this  kind  gentleman  and  myself  to 
bring  him  to?"  The  doctor  had  lain  the  inani- 
mate f onn  of  his  friend  upon  a  sofa  and  was  busily 
administering  restoratives,  but  his  countenance 
wore  a  look  of  pain  and  trouble  greater  than  it  had 
borne  for  years.  His  quick  and  practiced  eye  had 
detected  the  features  of  the  father  in  the  son,  and 
he  could  read  the  open  angelic  countenance  of  the 
southern  wife,  and  knew  there  was  no  imposture 
there.  But  he  had  scarce  time  to  think  and  none 
to  act  before  the  hand  of  the  northern  wife  fiercely 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  371 

the  arm  of  the  southern  one,  and  she 
almost  screamed  at  her.  "You  lie!  He  is  my 
husband.  I  have  been  married  to  him  for  years, 
and  I  will  not  give  him  up."  The  hand  of  the 
southern  wife  was  raised  one  moment  to  her  brow ; 
the  room  spun  round,  then  she  too  sank  un- 
conscious by  the  side  of  her  husband.  With  a 
wild  cry  the  boy  was  by  her  side.  "Oh,  my 
mother!  my  mother!  these  demons  have  killed 
you !  these  brutes  have  murdered  you !  Wake  up 
and  come  with  me  from  this  infernal  place  ;  'tis  I, 
your  son,  who  speaks  to  you.  Come  away  with  me ; 
there  is  no  one  here  who  is  worthy  of  a  thought 
from  you ;"  then  to  the  doctor,  "  Can  it  be  possible 
that  my  father  has  been  unfaithful  to  my  mother 
for  the  sake  of  that  thing  there  V'  and  he  pointed 
scornfully  to  where  the  northern  wife  still  stood 
gazing  with  pallid  features  upon  her  rival.  To 
this  boy  all  other  women  were  but  as  dross  com- 
pared to  his  angel  mother. 

The  doctor  said,  "  There,  my  boy,  take  this  and 
bathe  your  mother's  brow  and  head.  I  will  be 
back  in  one  minute."  Then  he  advanced  to  the 
side  of  the  other  wife,  and  taking  her  by  the  arm 
said  in  a  tone  of  voice  which  those  who  heard 
never  dared  to  disobey,  "  Come  to  your  room, 
this  is  no  place  for  you.  I  will  communicate  with 
you  as  soon  as  these  people  are  recovered." 


372  IN  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  But,  doctor,  who  and  what  am  IV 

"  You  are  the  same  to-day  as  you  were  yesterday, 
as  you  were  last  year.  No  fault  or  blame  is  on 
your  head.  But  no  more  now  ;  I  will  tell  you  all 
soon,  and  rest  assured  I  will  not  allow  you  to  be 
deceived."  Then  he  led  lier  quickly  to  lier  room 
and  locked  her  in. 

Returning  to  the  reception  room  he  speedily  had 
the  servants,  who  had  gathered  round,  carry  the 
remaining  wife  to  a  spare  room  and  laid  upon  a 
bed.  Then  giving  directions  to  a  domestic  who 
was  a  good  nurse  he  left  her  and  the  boy  in  the 
room,  but  not  until  he  had  found  an  opportunity  to 
say  to  the  youth,  "  My  boy,  you  are  a  brave  lad, 
and  you  have  an  intelligence  far  beyond  your 
years ;  be  a  man  now  if  ever  in  your  life  you  in- 
tend to  be  one.  The  peace  and  perhaps  the  lives 
of  all  in  this  house  depend  upon  you  and  me.  We 
must  save  them,  for  they  are  utterly  incapable  of 
saving  themselves  in  this  fearful  extremity." 

"  I  care  not  for  the  happiness  nor  the  lives  of 
any  of  them  but  my  mother,  I  wish  all  the  others 
were  in  hell !  caramba !" 

"  No  more  such  thoughts  as  that,  my  boy. 
Think  a  moment,  then  answer  me.  Does  not  your 
mother  deejDly  love  your  father  ?" 

"  She  does,  indeed." 

"  Then  could  she  be  happy  if  he  were  miserable  V 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  373 

"  I  suppose  not." 

"  Then  we  must  do  the  best  we  can  for  all.  Your 
mother  will  soon  return  to  consciousness.  Do  the 
best  you  can  to  console  her,  and  above  all  do  not 
speak  against  your  father,  but  comfort  her  all  you 
can.  That  is  all  I  can  say.  I  must  go  back  to 
your  father." 

He  found  his  friend  just  returning  to  conscious- 
ness. Dismissing  all  the  servants,  he  took  the 
hand  of  Lockwell  in  both  of  his  own,  and  bent  over 
him.  The  first  question  of  the  patient  as  he  opened 
his  eyes  was,  "Where  has  she  gone?  Has  she 
really  been  here  ?" 

"Yes,  she  is  here;  she  has  gone  to  her  room. 
Oh,  my  bosom  friend,  my  more  than  brother, 
my  heart  yearns   for  you.     What  can  I  do  for 


you 


«" 


"  For  me  ?  oh,  nothing ;  I  care  not  for  myself, 
but  the  thought  that  these  two — one  who  loves  me 
dearly,  and  the  other  I  love  dearly — would  now 
meet,  and  the  lives  and  happiness  of  both  be 
wrecked  and  ruined,  was  more  than  I  could  stand. 
So  sudden  too." 

"But,  doctor,  who  was  the  boy?  Did  not  she 
say  something  about  a  son  ?" 

"  Yes,  he  is  your  son." 

"  My  son  !    I  never  had  a  son." 

Then  he  gave  the  doctor  more  particulars  already 


374  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

known  to  the  reader,  and  the  sharp  physician  was 
not  long  in  guessing  the  facts  of  the  case. 

But  Lock  well  was  astounded  beyond  measure 
when  the  doctor  told  him  about  the  boy,  and  said 
he  was  a  noble  youth  that  any  parent  might  be 
proud  of.     Then  said  Lockwell  in  deep  anguish : 

"  Oh,  my  friend,  you  who  have  saved  me  and 
done  so  much  for  me,  I  beg  of  you  not  to  have 
one  thought  about  me  now,  but  save  those  two,  my 
— ^my  wives.  Their  lives  must  not  be  blasted  for 
no  fault  of  their  own.  Oh,  what  can  I  do  for  them  ? 
But  go  now,  my  friend,  to  my  secretary  in  the 
library,  and  in  that  you  will  find  a  secret  drawer" — 
and  he  gave  him  full  directions  how  to  find  it — 
"  and  in  that  drawer  you  will  find  a  full  manu- 
script history  of  my  life.  The  pages  are  numbered 
and  it  has  an  index ;  look  in  that  index  for  the 
chapter  headed  South  America,  find  it  and  read 
it,  then  you  will  know  all." 

The  doctor  did  as  directed  and  spent  over  an 
hour  in  reading  the  account  of  his  South  American 
marriage,  nearly  the  same  as  given  to  the  reader. 
Then  he  quietly  took  the  paper  and  went  up  to  the 
room  of  the  northern  wife.  He  found  her  pacing 
up  and  down  the  room  with  dishevelled  hair.  She 
stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  as  he  entered 
and  only  said : 

"WeUr 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  375 

"  If  things  are  bad  we  must  make  the  best  of 
them,  and  do  the  best  we  can  under  the  circum- 
stances. Read  this  paper  slowly  and  thoughtfully, 
then  'put  yourself  in  his  place 'before  you  pass 
any  judgment  upon  his  actions." 

She  took  the  paper  without  a  word,  and  he  passed 
from  her  room  to  that  of  the  southern  wife. 

When  the  latter  began  to  revive,  her  son,  with  a 
discretion  beyond  his  years,  asked  the  nurse  to  leave 
the  room,  as  his  mother  would  feel  better  to  see 
none  but  her  son  near  her.  The  nurse  was  only 
too  glad  to  retire  to  the  kitchen  to  speculate  with 
the  other  servants  as  to  what  had  happened,  for 
none  of  them  had  arrived  upon  the  scene  soon 
enough  to  hear  the  story  of  the  southern  lady,  and 
they  were  ignorant  of  the  real  state  of  the  case. 

"  Mother,"  said  young  Jose  as  she  opened  her 
eyes,  "  it  is  I,  your  son,  who  loves  you  more  than 
all  the  world  besides,  and  who  always  will  love  you. 
Oh,  take  yom*  love  away  from  all  others  who  do 
not  deserve  it,  and  give  it  all  to  me,  who  will  return 
it  with  interest." 

"  My  precious  boy !  I  have  had  a  fearful  dream. 
I  thought — but  was  it  a  dream?  Have  we  seen 
your  father,  and  has  he  another  wife  ?" 

"  N^ever  mind  that  now,  mother ;  think  of  me 
and  my  love  for  you.  I  would  never  have  another 
mother,  not  if  I  had  all  the  world  to  choose  from/' 


876  Ilf^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

and  the  little  fellow's  tears  fell  fast  upon  his 
mother's  cheek, 

"  Ah !  then  I  see  it  was  no  dream.  It  was  all 
real.  And  I  am  here  to  mar  his  happiness  once 
more ;  why  did  I  ever  come  ?"  Even  now  she 
would  think  only  of  his  happiness,  and  not  of  the 
great  wrong  done  her.  "  I  now  know  this  great 
affliction  has  been  brought  ujjon  me  because  I  did 
not  enter  a  convent  and  devote  myself  to  the  service 
of  the  Holy  Virgin.  But  it  is  the  last  time  she 
will  have  to  punish  me,  for  as  soon  as  I  am  well 
enough  to  move  I  will  join  some  good  sisters  of 
charity  and  pass  the  remainder  of  my  life  in  their 
service.  But  my  he^d  burns,  and  I  feel  very  ill 
and  faint." 

Just  now  the  doctor  entered,  and,  passing  to  the 
bedside,  took  up  her  hand  and  felt  of  her  pulse ;  he 
looked  very  serious;  then  admmistered  an  opiate, 
and  told  the  boy  he  must  not  talk  any  more  to  his 
mother,  but  let  her  sleep,  or  she  would  be  very  ill. 

The  boy's  frame  trembled  with  apprehension. 
He  followed  the  doctor  from  the  room,  and  when 
outside  the  door  he  grasped  his  hand  and  said : 

"  Oh,  sir,  I  am  my  mother's  only  protector  among 
all  her  enemies,  and  I  am  so  young  and  can  do  so 
little.  K  you  are  a  doctor,  for  the  love  of  God 
won't  you  cure  my  mother,  and  I  promise  you  as 
soon  as  she  is  better  we  will  leave  this  house  and 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  377 

never  come  back."  Tlie  doctor  stooped  down,  and 
placing  both  hands  npon  the  head  of  the  boy  shoved 
back  the  hair  from  his  handsome  forehead  and 
pressed  a  kiss  npon  his  brow,  while  a  tear  dropped 
from  the  doctor's  eye  upon  the  other's  cheek,  and 
he  said  to  him : 

"  My  young  friend,  your  mother  has  not  an  enemy 
in  this  house,  and  I  am  a  physician,  and  I  give  you 
my  word  that  everything  that  mortal  man  can  do  I 
will  do  for  her.  I  will  not  attempt  to  disguise  the 
facts  from  you.  This  shock  has  been  very  severe 
upon  your  mother,  and  she  is  now  very  ill  with  a 
fever,  but  I  have  no  doubt  she  will  be  well  again  after 
some  days.  Now  go  back  to  her.  I  have  given  her 
that  which  will  make  her  sleep,  and  as  soon  as  she 
is  sound  asleep  she  will  remain  so  for  hours,  and 
you  can  do  no  good  by  staying  there,  and  I  must  talk 
with  you  this  evening.  Will  you  come  down  to  me 
in  the  library  ?" 

"Yes,  as  soon  as  she  is  asleep  I  will  come." 
Before  the  northern  wife  had  read  half  through 
the  story  of  her  husband's  previous  marriage  she 
muttered,  "Well,  he  never  loved  her.  He  has 
loved  only  me,  and  that  is  the  principal  thing  after 
all.  Oh,  why  has  she  come  here  ?  If  she  had  re- 
mained away  things  could  have  gone  on  the  same 
way  always,  and  I  would  have  been  as  happy  for 
§ver  as  I  have  been  for  the  past  few  years,  and  so 


378  TJSr  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

would  my  liusbaud.  Oh,  why  did  she  come!" 
Before  she  had  completed  the  full  story  she  was 
lost  in  wonder  and  astonishment  that  any  girl  could 
give  up  one  she  loved  in  order  to  secure  that  per- 
son's happiness;  then  she  could  not  refrain  from 
admiring  the  conduct  of  both,  and  when  she  had 
completed  the  narrative  she  remembered  the  words 
of  the  doctor,  to  "  put  yourself  in  his  place"  before 
passing  judgment,  and  when  she  did  so  she  could 
not  refrain  from  acknowledging  that  if  she  would 
not  have  done  the  same,  imder  the  circumstances, 
it  was  because  it  was  not  her  nature  to  do  such 
noble  deeds.  But  -then  the  awful  fact  remained 
that  the  other  wife  was  here,  and  now  the  question 
was,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  Her  position  was  a  very 
trjdng  one,  but  she  felt  very  much  better  after  hav- 
ing read  her  husband's  manuscript. 

The  conviction  that  he  had  married  his  first  wife 
only  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  that  he  had  mar- 
ried her  because  he  loved  her,  was  in  itself  very 
consoling.  What  should  she  do?  Arise  and  go 
back  to  her  stepfather  ?  She  shuddered  at  the  idea, 
more  especially  as  she  remembered  the  conversation 
she  had  with  him  only  the  day  before.  Besides 
she  deeply  loved  her  husband,  and  he  dearly  loved 
her,  and  her  only ;  of  this  she  was  satisfied.  The 
manuscript  history  of  liis  former  marriage  written 
by  himself  proved  this.     Must  she  then  give  him 


TEE  TWO   WIVES.  379 

up?  She  could  not  tell.  All  she  knew  was  that 
the  other  wife  had  a  prior  claim  upon  her  husband, 
and  her  own  marriage  was  illegal.  She  kept  re- 
peating, "  Oh,  if  she  only  had  kept  away  we  would 
have  continued  on  in  the  same  happy  life  forever, 
and  never  have  known  or  thought  that  we  ought 
to  be  miserable.  Now  she  is  here  what  will  she 
do  ?  Let  me  '  put  myself  in  her  place '  and  see.  I 
should  claim  my  rights,  of  course.  But  then  she 
is  infinitely  better  than  I  am  ;  there  may  be  hope 
in  that,  though.  But  no,  there  is  their  son  ;  how- 
ever unselfish  and  noble  she  may  be  her  duty  to 
her  son  will  compel  her  to  assert  her  rights.  "Well, 
I  can  only  trust  in  heaven  and  the  doctor ;  prin- 
cipally the  doctor  now.  If  any  one  can  help  us  it 
is  he.     But  I  do  not  see  what  can  be  done." 

After  leaving  the  boy  at  the  door  of  his  mother's 
room  the  doctor  hastily  called  the  groom  and  sent 
him  out  with  orders  to  bring  a  carriage  without 
delay ;  then  proceeding  to  the  reception  room,  where 
his  friend  was  still  lying,  he  said  : 

"  Rouse  yourself,  my  friend,  there  will  be  a  car- 
riage here  in  ten  minutes  to  take  you  to  the  depot. 
Tou  must  catch  the  midnight  train  for  Boston,  and 
wait  there  till  you  hear  from  me." 

"Why  so?" 

"  Because  you  must  not  pass  another  hour  under 
the  same  roof  with  these  two  ladies.     If  you  do  I 


380  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

will  not  answer  for  the  consequences.  Without 
jou  here  perhaps  we  can — we  must — we  will  do 
something  to  help  this  fearful  state  of  affairs.  But 
you  must  go  at  once.  Your  valise  with  what  you 
may  need  will  be  packed  and  forwarded  to  you  by 
ex2:)ress  to-morrow." 

"Doctor,  tell  me  honestly,  would  it  not  helj^ 
matters — would  it  not  be  better  for  them  if  my 
body  should  be  found  floating  in  the  East  Eiver  to- 
morrow morning  ?  Say  but  one  word  and  it  shall 
be  so." 

"  Hush !  have  not  a  thought  of  that  kind.  Don't 
you  know  that  that  would  instantly  kill  your  south- 
ern wife,  and  make  the  other  miserable  for  life  ? 
You  must  do  just  as  I  say,  and  I  tell  you  all  will  be 
well  yet.  I  have  saved  you  before,  and  I  will  save 
you  again.  I  am  bomid  to  do  so  now,  for  if  it  had 
not  been  for  me  you  would  never  have  married  the 
other  one."  So  this  generous  man  was  trying  to 
share  the  blame  with  his  friend. 

Five  minutes  afterward  Lockwell  had  left  the 
house,  and  the  doctor  and  the  boy  were  alone  in  the 
library. 

"  My  dear  young  friend,"  said  the  doctor,  as  he 
drew  the  youth  to  a  seat  beside  him,  "this  must 
be  a  very  different  reception  from  what  you  had 
anticipated.  It  is  hard,  too  hard  for  one  of  your 
tender  years,  but,  unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  you 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  381 

have  a  man's  heart  and  mind  within  this  youthful 
frame,  and  will  bear  tliis  trial  like  a  man." 

"  Oh,  for  nie  it  is  nothing,  but  think  of  my  poor 
mother,  who  for  years  has  lived  only  in  the  antici- 
pation of  this  meeting.  Ever  since  I  was  born  she 
has  struggled  to  prepare  me  properly  to  occupy  the 
position  of  an  affectionate  son  to  my  father,  and  it 
was  not  until  she  saw  she  could  fit  herself  to  appear 
in  the  society  among  which  her  husband  moved 
without  shame  to  him  that  she  would  allow  herseK 
to  think  of  ever  coming  to  see  him.  And  now  to 
find  him  with  another  wife!  Oh,  why  did  my 
father  do  so  ?"  And  his  grief,  as  he  thought  of  his 
mother's  sorrow,  choked  his  utterance. 

The  doctor  j^ut  his  arm  around  his  neck,  and, 
drawing  his  head  down  upon  his  bosom,  said  : 

"It  is  of  your  father  I  wish  to  speak  to  you. 
Has  your  mother  told  you  the  story  of  their  lives?" 
"  Yes,  on  the  steamer  coming  to  ^New  York  she 
told  me  all." 

"  Well,  your  father  is  my  best  and  dearest  friend, 
and  I  know  him  better  than  any  one,  and  you  must 
believe  me  when  I  tell  you  that  there  is  nothing 
under  the  heavens  he  would  not  do  for  your  mother 
to-day.  If  he  thought  it  would  contribute  one 
atom  to  her  happiness  he  would  kill  himself  this 
instant ;  this  I  know  to  be  so." 

"  Then,  if  he  thinks  so  much  of  her,  why  did  he 


382  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

forsake  her?  I  know  why  he  left  her  in  South 
America,  she  told  me  all  about  that,  but  why  has 
he  been  unfaithful  to  her  here  ?" 

"  That  is  what  it  will  be  hard  for  you  to  under- 
stand, but  you  must  try  to  understand  it.  Your 
father  adored  and  reverenced  your  mother  very 
much  in  the  same  way  as  you  adore  the  Holy 
Virgin.  But  even  as  no  man,  however  great,  would 
think  of  conjugal  love  in  reference  to  Her,  so  your 
father  would  never  have  thought  of  asking  your 
mother  to  marry  him  until  he  saw  she  loved  him  ; 
then  he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  up  all  thoughts  of 
and  hopes  in  regard  to  himself  and  marry  her 
simply  because  he  thought  it  would  increase  her 
happiness,  and  he  would  have  remained  with  her  all 
her  life  had  she  permitted  it.  But  she  forced  him 
to  return  to  his  own  country,  and  here  he  accident- 
ally met  the  other  one,  and  before  he  knew  it  they 
were  deeply  in  love  with  one  another.  Then  what 
was  he  to  do  ?  He  could  have  procured  a  divorce 
from  your  mother  and  married  this  one.  But  there 
he  acted  solely  with  a  view  to  your  mother's  happi- 
ness. You  must  bear  in  mind  that  he  had  no  idea 
of  your  existence,  and  so  never  thought  of  such  a 
thing  as  her  coming  to  this  country,  in  which  case 
he  would  have  had  no  difficulty  in  keeping  his  sec- 
ond marriage  a  secret  from  her  forever.  But  if  he 
had  gotten  a  divorce  it  would  have  been  public  and 


THE   TWO   WIVES.  383 

she  miglit  have  heard  of  it.  N^ow  I  ask  you  frankly, 
has  she  not  been  happier  in  the  last  few  years  in  ig- 
norance of  her  husband's  second  marriage  than  she 
would  have  been  had  she  known  it  ?" 

"  Why,  yes,  I  suppose  so." 

"  Then  you  see  you  agree  with  your  father  ex- 
actly, and  had  things  occurred  as  he  had  every  rea- 
son to  expect  they  would  she  would  have  been 
happier  all  her  life  in  ignorance  of  his  second  mar- 
riage. So  you  see  that,  not  knowing  of  your  birth, 
he  took  the  best  means  that  his  knowledge  of  the 
circumstances  would  permit  to  secure  her  happi- 
ness." 

"  Then  it  seems,"  wailed  the  poor  boy,  "  that  I 
am  the  only  one  at  fault.  If  I  had  never  been  born 
my  mother  would  have  remained  away  all  her  life 
in  contented  and  happy  ignorance  of  her  rival.  He 
would  have  been  happy,  and  all  would  have  been 
happy.     Oh,  why  was  I  ever  born  ?" 

"  You  were  not  to  blame.  IN'o  one  was  to  blame. 
It  is  only  a  coincidence  of  misfortunes  which  you 
and  I  must  meet  and  overcome.  But  now  you  must 
go  to  bed  and  try  to  sleep.  To-morrow  I  will  give 
you  your  father's  story  to  read.  You  will  not  see 
him,  for  he  has  gone  away  and  will  not  come  back 
till  we  send  for  him,  which,  God  grant,  will  be  in  a 
few  days.  Now  kiss  your  mother,  then  go  to  your 
bed  in  the  next  room  with  the  assurance  that  she 


384  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

will  have  every  care  and  attention,  and  only  think 
how  lucky  you  are  to  have  the  noblest  mother  that 
ever  breathed,  and  the  best  father  that  ever  walked 
the  earth." 

Jose  retired  sad,  but  somewhat  consoled. 

Half  an  hour  afterward  the  doctor  knocked  upon 
the  door  of  the  northern  wife's  room  and  found 
her  pale  but  not  stricken  down  like  the  other. 

"Doctor,"  said  slie,  "  what  must  I  do?" 

"  You  must  go  to  bed  at  once  and  sleep  till  morn- 
ing." 

"  Should  I  not  leave  this  house  immediately  ?" 

"  No,  he  has  gone  away  and  will  not  return  till 
we  send  for  him,  which  will  be  as  soon  as  we  can. 
You  must  remain  here  till  we  decide  what  is  best  to 
be  done." 

"  Doctor,  will  she  assert  her  rights  ?" 

"  If  she  is  human  she  will.  If,  as  I  sometimes 
think,  she  is  divine,  she  may  not." 

"  But  the  boy  ?" 

"The  boy  inherits  all  the  noble  qualities  of 
both  his  parents,  with  none  of  their  faults,  if  either 
of  them  have  any,  which  I  doubt.  And  he  will  do 
what  is  best  for  all,  and  so  will  she,  and  so  will 
you,  and  so  will  your  husband.  Now  go  to  bed," 
and  he  passed  on  to  the  room  of  the  sick  wife.  As  he 
approached  the  bed  where  she  was  sleeping,  the 
sound  evidently  reached  her  ears,  for  she  turned  her 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  385 

head  slightl)^  on  the  pillow  toward  him.  Seeing  her 
lips  move,  he  bent  his  head  in  time  to  hear  her  mur- 
mur : 

"  My  husband,  hehold  our  son.  Oh,  I  knew  yon 
would  be  proud  of  him.  I  have  made  him  what  he 
is  to  be  a  fitting  present  to  you." 

And  the  doctor,  watching  her,  saw  the  same 
heavenly  smile  upon  her  countenance  she  had  worn 
whesn,  more  than  ten  years  before,  she  bade  her  hus- 
band leave  her  forever.  And  that  critical  judge  of 
human  nature  thought,  as  he  gazed  upon  her  coun- 
tenance, that  he  had  never  seen  before  so  much  di- 
vinity manifested  in  the  flesh.  He  kept  asking 
himself  if  it  were  possible  that  that  celestial  being 
could  ever  have  been  plain  in  features  and  unre- 
fined in  manner ;  yet  he  knew  it  was  possible,  and 
that  love  and  grief  together  will  work  wondrous 
changes. 

All  that  night  the  doctor  passed  in  thinking 
deeply  upon  the  situation,  and  in  watching  his  pa- 
tient. He  could  not  close  his  eyes.  It  seemed  to 
him  that  the  fate  of  all  beneath  that  roof,  and  of  the 
absent  head  of  the  family,  depended  upon  him,  and 
he  could  see  no  way  out  of  the  difficulties,  nor 
could  he  give  any  advice  until  he  could  talk  with 
the  southern  (and  really  the  only)  wife.  He  must 
know  her  wishes  first  before  anything  could  be 
done. 


386  IJSr  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

In  the  morning  lie  summoned  all  the  servants 
and  told  them  that  a  foreign  lady,  a  relative  of  the 
family,  had  arrived,  bringing  distressing  news 
which  had  necessitated  the  immediate  departure  of 
Mr.  Lockwell,  and  that  the  ladj  herself  was  very 
ill,  and  would  keep  her  room.  So  he  took  the 
charge  of  all  matters  and  regulated  everything. 

When  the  southern  wife  awoke  in  the  morning 
she  was  suffering  from  fever  and  nervous  prostra- 
tion, and  was  far  too  sick  to  rise.  Jose  stood  on 
one  side  of  the  bed,  with  the  doctor  on  the  other. 
She  remembered  everything,  but  kissed  her  boy 
and  gave  her  hand  to  the  doctor,  who  raised  it  to 
his  hps.  She  then  asked  where  "  he"  was,  and  the 
doctor  told  her  that  he  had  gone  away,  but  would 
return  as  soon  as  they  sent  for  him.  She  then  sur- 
prised the  doctor  by  asking  : 

"  And  wdiere  is  his  wife  ?" 

The  question  embarrassed  him.  He  had  not  ex- 
pected this  one,  who  was  the  real  wife,  to  speak  in 
this  way  of  the  other  who  had  usurped  her  place. 
He  replied : 

"  She  is  in  her  room." 

"  And  is  she  very  angry,  or  will  she  forgive  me, 
do  you  think  ?" 

"  Forgive  you  !     Good  God  !  and  for  what  ? 

"  Why,  for  constantly  marring  his  happiness. 
She  loves  him  very  dearly,  does  she  not  ?  and  if  so 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  387 

she  can  only  think  of  his  welfare  and  happiness, 
which  I  am  constantly  destroying.  Is  it  not  very, 
very  sad.  Doctor,  that  in  my  ignorance  I  am  con- 
stantly doing  just  contrary  to  what  I  intend  ?  Yon 
are  his  friend,  are  you  not  ?" 

"  Madam,  we  are  more  than  friends.  We  love 
each  other  with  a  love  surpassing  that  of  brothers." 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  glad ;  for  now  you  will  show  me 
the  best  and  quickest  way  to  undo  what  I  have 
done.  You  know,  I  suppose,  that  in  my  selfish- 
ness and  ignorance  I  married  him,  and  how  I 
remedied  that  evil  I  had  brought  upon  him  in  the 
best  way  I  might,  by  sending  him  back  to  his 
friends;  then  as  he  never  spoke  in  his  letters  of 
loving  any  one  I  did  not  think  of  it  at  all,  and 
again  in  my  ignorance,  where  I  thought  only  to 
bring  him  joy  and  pleasure  with  the  presence  of  our 
boy,  I  have  blasted  all  his  happiness.  ]^ow  I 
must  take  what  legal  steps  are  necessary  to  free 
him  at  once  from  his  first  mai'riage." 

"  Do  you  really  mean  this  ?"  said  the  doctor. 

She  looked  up  in  surprise.  "  What  else  can  I  do  ? 
Does  he  not  love  his  wife  very  dearly,  and  could 
she  continue  to  be  happy  now  that  she  knows  of 
my  existence  and  the  former  marriage  unless  it 
was  dissolved,  and  she  became  his  wife  by  law  as 
she  already  is  by  their  mutual  love,  which  is  higher 
than  all  law  ?     Oh,  no,  there  is  no  other  way." 


388  m  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

"  Madam,"  said  tlie  doctor,  "  you  are  too  good 
for  this  world;  heaven  is  not  composed  of  better 
beings."  And  he  thought,  "  How  is  it  possible  for 
any  human  being  possessing  the  love  of  this 
angelic  creature  to  ever  think  of  any  one  else." 

He  passed  to  the  room  of  the  northern  wife,  and 
telling  her  that  this  rival  never  once  spoke  of 
Lockwell  as  her  husband,  but  always  sjioke  of  her 
(the  northern  lady)  as  his  wife,  related  to  her  all 
that  had  been  said.  The  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks 
as  she  listened,  and  she  replied,  "  She  is  a  far  bet- 
ter, nobler  woman  than  myself,  but  I  cannot  be 
sorry  that  he  does  not  love  her,  for,  oh !  I  could  not 
give  liim  up.  But  she  must  be  the  noblest  woman 
that  ever  breathed  thus  to  relinquish  him  whom 
she  so  fondly  loves." 

"  She  is  an  angel,"  said  the  doctor,  and  the  deep 
earnestness  of  his  voice  caused  her  to  look  up  at 
him  searchingly,  and  with  her  woman's  penetration 
she  thought  she  could  read  the  grand  possibilities 
of  the  future. 

"Let  me  go  to  her,"  she  said,  and  the  next 
minute  was  inside  the  sick-chamber.  She  gazed 
but  one  instant  upon  the  sorrowful  face  of  the 
invahd  in  the  bed,  then  threw  herself  by  her  side 
and  wept  upon  her  bosom.  "  Oh,  this  is  so  good 
of  you,"  said  the  invalid,  "for  now  I  know  that 
you  forgive    me,   and    soon  you  will    have  him 


THE  TWO   WIVES.  389 

wholly  your  own  by  the  law  of  the  land  as  he  is 
already  by  the  higher  law  of  love.  I  would  return 
again  to  my  native  country,  but  my  son  has  been 
prepared  to  remain  here,  and  is  now  unfitted  to 
return,  and,  as  he  is  now  my  all,  I  know  he  will 
never  let  me  leave  him." 

"  You  shall  never  leave  us.  Oh,  be  my  friend. 
You  are  so  pure  and  holy.  I  need  you  to  help  me 
to  be  good,  for  I  am  very  wicked.  Won't  you  be 
the  same  friend  to  me  as  the  doctor  is  to — to  Mr. 
Lockwell?"  She  had  noticed  that  this  southern  lady 
never  spoke  of  Lockwell  as  her  own  husband  but 
always  as  the  husband  of  the  other.  "  Promise  me 
that  you  will  never  go  so  far  away  but  that  I  can 
come  to  you  and  learn  to  be  good." 

"  Yery  gladly  will  I  be  your  friend,"  was  the  re- 
ply. But  here  the  doctor  interfered,  declaring  his 
patient  must  not  say  another  word,  and  led  the 
northern  wife  away.  As  he  parted  from  her  in 
the  hall  she  whispered  to  him,  "  Doctor,  never  let 
that  noble  woman  leave  us."  He  answered,  "  She 
never  shall  if  I  can  prevent  it,"  and  then  to  him- 
self, "  I  will  win  her  love  and  marry  her,  so  help 
me  God!" 

A  week  has  passed  since  the  meeting  of  the  two 
wives  and  one  is  too  feeble  yet  to  leave  her  room. 
The  doctor  is  constant  in  his  attentions  to  both 
mother  and  son,  and  the  latter  has  bestowed  all  the 


390  12^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

wealth  of  love  wliicli  he  had  reserved  for  his 
father  upon  the  doctor,  and  only  wishes  that  he 
was  in  reality  his  father.  Lockwell  is  still  in 
Boston,  where  he  receives  daily  letters  from  the 
doctor.  By  the  exercise  of  the  utmost  vigilance 
not  an  intimation  of  the  true  condition  of  affairs 
has  got  abroad,  and  all  passes  as  usual  beneath  the 
roof  of  Lockwell's  home.  The  friendship  between 
these  two  women  so  totally  different  grows  stronger 
each  succeeding  day.  To-day  the  doctor  is  writing 
at  great  length  to  Lockwell,  giving  him  his  final 
advice  and  directions  before  the  latter  should  leave 
for  the  West,  for  it  had  been  all  arranged  that 
Lockwell  should  go  to  one  of  those  Western  States 
the  laws  of  which  are  more  liberal  in  rectifying  the 
errors  in  that  commonest  of  all  mistakes,  an  ill- 
assorted  marriage,  and  there  he  should  get  a  divorce 
fr6m  his  first  wife,  and  also  while  there  to  buy  a 
large  farm,  and  then  the  doctor  would  bring  out 
his  northern  wife,  to  whom  he  would  be  quietly  re- 
married and  then  settle  down  there.  And  now  the 
doctor  wrote  to  him  to  buy  a  large  tract  of  land  on 
which  two  good  houses  could  be  built  near  each 
other,  as  he  thought  he  should  himself  marry  be- 
fore long,  and  would  then  come  out  and  live  near 
them;  for  he  knew  the  strength  of  his  own  de- 
termination and  iron  will  and  never  doubted  he 
should  succeed  in  the  dearest  object  of  his  life. 


TME  TWO  WIVES.  S91 

One  more  year  has  passed,  and  the  last  scene  of 
our  narrative  is  some  hundreds  of  miles  west  of 
the  great  metropolis.  Two  beautiful  farms  adjoin, 
and  the  mansions  on  each  are  scarce  a  stone's 
throw  apart.  It  is  Sunday,  and  every  time  the  day 
comes  round  the  two  families  unite,  first  at  one 
house  then  at  the  other.  As  Lockwell  and  his  wife 
approach  the  residence  of  Dr.  Train  they  are  talk- 
ing of  the  latter  and  his  wife. 

"  Don't  you  think,"  said  Lockwell,  "  that  she  has 
learned  to  love  him  very  much  ?" 

"I  know  it.  He  has  a  will  and  a  way  that 
would  compel  any  woman  to  love  him  when  he 
chooses  to  exert  it." 

And  as  they  chat  around  the  supper-table,  and 
read  aloud  the  last  letter  from  Jose,  now  known  as 
Jose  Lockwell  Train,  who  is  distinguishing  himself 
in  an  Eastern  school,  not  one  there  present  doubts 
that  the  noble  South  American  has  succeeded  in 
transferring  her  fathomless  love  to  her  present 
husband. 

And  while  they  are  all  here  you  and  I,  dear 
reader,  will  step  across  to  Lockwell's  house  and 
open  his  wife's  writing-desk,  which  is  never  locked, 
and  read  the  closing  paragraph  of  her  letter  to  her 
stepfather,  just  written,  and  to  be  mailed  to-mor- 
row.    Here  it  is : 

"  So  we  are  all  coming  East  this  summer  for  a 


392  /iV^  SEARCH  OF  GOLD. 

montli  or  two,  and  if  you  wish  it  we  will  make 
jou  a  visit.  I  know  that  you  will  be  glad  to  hear 
again  that  I  have  got  the  best  husband  and  am  the 
happiest  wife  on  earth.  You  said  once,  in  regard 
to  him,  that  '  time  will  show.'  Time  has  shown ; 
he  has  been  tried  in  the  fiery  furnace,  and  has  come 
out  Pure  Gold." 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 


Wi  Inner 
1139 


